Empowered
by winddrinker
Summary: After the fall of Sunnydale everything seemed to be over. Then something unpredictable happened and Buffy was given the very power that she had rejected before, the power the Shadow Men gave the first Slayer. What will happen to her and the Scoobies now?
1. Chapter 1

EMPOWERED

"What are we gonna' do now, Buffy?"

Buffy and the rest of the Scooby Gang, plus extras, stood on the mouth of the crater, formally known as the city of Sunnydale. She knew she should be having all these profound thoughts or something, they'd defeated the _First_, for crying out loud. Her home of seven years, where she'd met friends and lost them, where she'd experienced so many good and horrible things, was gone. But really, all she could think was that she really wanted some ice cream. Maybe some mint chocolate chip or some Rocky Road or even some Mint Chocalate Chip _and_ Rocky Road. Dammit, even though Buffy had never admitted it, Faith was right about those H's, both of them. She smiled secretly, not that she'd ever tell her that.

She stood there for a moment, the breeze ruffling nicely through her hair, contemplating ice cream and other things. Then she realized everyone had filtered away and was heading toward the bus, apparently the moment was over. Chuckling a little she turned around and began limping back to towards everyone, damn gut wound. Everyone was milling around and Willow waved excitedly at her and she raised her hand to tell them she was coming. Then something went wrong, Willow wasn't waving happily anymore. In fact, her movements looked rather frantic and her face horrified. Senses primed, Buffy spun to face the danger, but just a fraction slower than usual because of her wound. It was black and oily looking and it rose from the depths of the Sunnydale crater and shot straight into her body.

"NOOOO!" Was the last thing she heard as Willow screamed and then her world was filled with pain. It was teeth gritting, muscle shaking, earth shattering pain and it seemed to go on and on forever. It was like the pain was trying to take over her whole body. But Buffy was used to pain. Since she had been Chosen at fifteen, her entire world had been defined by varying degrees of it, emotional and physical. So she set her jaw and rode through it.

They were like her Slayer dreams, only even more vivid, the visions that began flashing through her mind. She felt Faith's terror as she crouched in the corner of her mother's trailer, trying to escape the lash of the latest boyfriend's belt, all the while knowing that this was better than what would come afterward. She knew Kendra's iron hard dedication and absolute loyalty to her Watcher and the secret fear that she wasn't good enough. She felt the terror Wood's mother felt for her son because she had to bring him into her world, but at the same time the absolute and overwhelming love she had for him and her fierce need to protect him. Over and over, again and again, she lived lives that were not her own, all the way back to the First Slayer.

As she lived though, she learned. Tactics and strategy for battle that she would never have thought of on her own, things she would never have considered. A garot soaked in holy water, pit traps and snares and all manner of things. She still thought her hairspray flamethrower was the coolest though. It seemed like it took centuries to do it all, but it must have only taken hours, because the next thing she knew her eyes popped open and she was looking at Willow and Dawn. The bus was rocking slightly and it was getting close to sunset.

"Buffy!" Dawn yelled, and Buffy flinched back at the loudness of it. There was more yelling as everyone heard and gathered round. She glanced around wildly. Her vision seemed different as well. Her depth perception was off and it she kept blinking wildly at the weird shapes and colors that popped out at her. Everything was more vivid, even the smells, it was dizzying and disorientating.

"Buffy?" Willow's voice was soft, soothing compared to the harsh sounds of the others. Buffy focused on her, it seemed easier to focus on one thing. Her voice rambled as Buffy watched the interplay of color in her friends hair, it was as if she could see every individual strand. Fascinated, she put out her hand, trying to touch, but her depth perception was off so all she got was air.

"Pretty," she heard herself say.

"It's a drug demon!" She heard Andrew yell. "It's made her high!"

"Shut up, Andrew!" Dawn hissed.

Buffy could feel the disorientation grow and with it the anger, the rage to take something out so the noise would stop. She growled low in her throat, warning them to back off. But they didn't seem to get it, they just got louder! Frantic not to hurt her friends she looked to Willow, who actually seemed to be the only one staying calm.

"Willow…," she rasped, "…me…out…"

"Buffy, what?"

Buffy lunged toward her friend, not knowing how fast she was really going and that it appeared as if she hadn't moved at all, but was just suddenly there. Willow didn't even have time to flinch back. Buffy bared her teeth and growled.

"Take…me…out!"

Willow's eyes flashed in understanding and she brought her hands up quickly. She whispered, "Rest!" There was a flash and Buffy knew only darkness.

...

Author's Note:

Okay...so here it is. This is a setup for a, hopefully, long story. I'm just testing the waters here. Provided I get a good response (or probably even if I don't) settle in cause it's gonna take a while. I look forward to constructive criticism and any suggestions about where people want the story to go. I have an outline and I know how it will end, but my stories have a tendency to take on a life of their own (back...down, you blasted plot bunnies! Crack! Crack!)


	2. Chapter 2

I wish to thank those people who have sent me response/reviews already. I was quite tickled to get such a good response so early in the game. Do please continue and don't be afraid to send corrections when you feel them needed or opinions on how you think the story is proceeding. Also, a note to rating. There is some swearing in this chapter and it is highly possible that this story will be getting an M rating later one, just to let you know.

...

**Chapter 2**

Buffy sat in her room, one of the ten that Giles had rented on his credit card after they had arrived. San Fransisco and Los Angeles had become the main evacuationsites for Sunnydale residents. The plan had actually been to go to L.A. to get Angel's help but they had ended up on the wrong side of the crater. San Fransisco was closer and they'd had wounded. They'd actually been very lucky to get the rooms that they'd had as they'd been the people out of Sunnydale. All of the rest of the hotels had been full, they'd had to take what they could get. Buffy had known none of this of course. She'd been unconscious for two days.

The others were doing okay. Woods would have a wicked scar, but he'd live. The girls, now that they had Slayer healing, were all pretty much fine. They were all finding out first hand about Faith's H's theory, though. After they'd spent the first day recovering and sleeping they'd proceeded to throw a crazy party in one of the rooms and only the swift interference by Willow and a rather substantial bribe from Giles had kept them all from getting kicked out.

Buffy though, she'd been stuck in her room, with the lights low and as little noise as possible. She'd finally gotten so that she could go outside with people. Her hearing, sense of smell, even her sense of touch were all heightened. Luckily for her, she'd gone through something like this before when she'd been Chosen, just not this intense. Otherwise she'd probably be going bat shit crazy right now. She knew it was only a matter of concentration and practice. But the rage and her strength were becoming too much for her to handle. That's why she'd called all her friends together.

"I need to leave."

Buffy sat breathing slowly as the expected protests rolled over her, her eyes almost completely closed. She was trying to stay calm.

"Are you trying to run away again, Buffy?!" Dawn yelled, tears in her eyes.

"If I were trying to run away, Dawn," Buffy breathed in, "Then I wouldn't be here talking to all of you, would I?"

"Damn it, Buffy," Xander said, "We're all hurt here. You weren't the only one to loose someone. But you don't see us leaving, do you?"

"We do have a responsibility to those girls, Buffy," Giles cleaned his glasses, "And we've yet to figure out what happened to you at the crater."

"I know what happened."

"What!"

"Huh?"

"It's very simple," Buffy overrode their questions. "Those bastard Shadowmen had the last laugh. The emergency Slayer kit, the one Wood's gave me. We left it backat the house. It must have gotten broken and the Shadowmen sent the power out and stuck it in me, so that it wouldn't be lost."

"So, you're saying you're all super Slayer?" Faith rasped out. Buffy found she couldn't hate the girl anymore, not after experiencing her life. They would likely never be the best of friends, they had to history, but she felt she understood the other Slayer a little better now. Besides, at least Faith wasn't yelling at her. Her hands were shaking now and she clasped them together in desperation. The rage and irritation were crawling around under her skin like ants. She stayed huddled in her chair, focusing on a pinhole in the wall.

"Is that why you locked yourself in the room?" Willow asked.

"Yeah, everything's more…vivid. You know how it felt when you were Chosen?" Buffy looked at Faith, who nodded. "Think ten or twenty times that, it's like I'm on overload 24/7."

"Shit," was all Faith had to say, succinct as always. The rest of them sat back, stunned. Then, "Oh, shit, B," Faith finally got it, "That's gotta suck. How you holdin' it in?"

"Holding what in?" Xander asked, confused, "And why would it suck? Wouldn't Buffy being more powerful be better?"

"You know what I did when I first got my power, X-man?" Faith's eyes were hard. "I tracked down my mother's last boyfriend and I almost beat him to death. And don't look at me like that. This was way before I got into my whole homicide phase. This is the dirty side of the Slayer that nobody likes to talk about."

"Yes," Giles sighed and slipped his glasses back on. "Slayers often have…violent reactions…when they first receive their power."

"Why?"

"It's the Slayer," Faith leered, "She's a nasty bitch and what she don't like, she usually kills."

"You must understand," Giles tried to explain this new aspect of their friend to the Scoobies. "The Slayer was made from demonic forces and was originally a simple killing machine. Over the years she has evolved and the human side has taken over, but she's still there."

"Yeah, we met her that one night, after Adam." Willow shuddered in remembrance. "So why didn't Buffy do this…go crazy…thing?"

"Who says I didn't?" Buffy whispered.

"Buffy?" Willow looked at her, wide-eyed. Buffy had never told her about this.

"Oh, I didn't go out and do anything at first. Because I was to shallow to care about anything really and I was so spoiled that I got whatever I wanted." Her voice was bitter and harsh. "But when Merrick, my first Watcher died, I went…I went a little crazy…"

"I'd never heard of this," Giles muttered.

"I didn't tell you," Buffy snapped, then breathed in more. "I went to Las Vegas with Pike and then, when I realized I was gonna get him killed one day, I left him. I made my way home, but I…I made a few stops on the way home." Her eyes were haunted and old and a little bit afraid as she looked at her friends. "I snapped and it wasn't pretty. Luckily, I stayed away from people and stuck to demons, but it's worse now Giles. I can feel it and it's going to get a lot worse before it gets better. I need to leave and get a handle on this thing, before I hurt somebody."

"But Buffy," Willow protested, "Shouldn't you stay here with us, instead. I m…mean we c…can help you! You have to stop running away!"

"You know what?" Buffy stayed seated, but the rest began to stir as waves of anger streamed from her. Her voice was low and deadly. "I'm fucking tired of that crap. I run away, once, because I had some bad stuff to deal with and now I have to crawl every time I do something wrong. While you guys abandon me…kick me out of my own house…RIP ME OUT OF HEAVEN AND I DON'T EVEN GET A FUCKING APOLOGY?!" Her voice was a roar and her eyes a bright yellow color, almost like a vampires. Her hand came down on the table next to her and it shattered into pieces, fragments flying out wildly.

Only Willow's instinctive spell shielded them from being hit by splinters and the yellow in Buffy's eyes bled out as fast as it had come in and she slumped back in her chair. "Do you see now?" she whispered, taking in everyone's scared expressions. Except Faith, she just looked impressed. "I do love you guys and I can't take the chance that I might hurt you, much less one of the Potentials. I need to get under control and then I'll come back, I promise. Just please…let me go…let me protect you."

…………………………………………………

Authors Note:

Alrighty then, a few points of explanation. The part about Buffy going to Las Vegas was taken from Slayers Omnibus, a rather well told tale of the time in between the original movie and the beginning of the television series. Should you wish to read it I'm quite sure it is still available at your local Barnes & Noble or Borders. Also, I am very obviously ignoring the comic book continuation that was done by Mr. Whedon (Though I am following it in my own reading. ROCK ON giant Dawn!).

As for Buffy's outburst at the end I realize that it was somewhat out of character but I put it in there to emphasize the point that her emotions are not at all under control at the moment. Don't worry, this isn't a hate on the Scoobies fic. I simply didn't like the way they tied everything up at the end of the t.v. series, it was to pat. People don't make up that easily and, if my story continues the way I wish it to, _everyone_ will be airing their dirty laundry.

That's all for my ramblings right now, see you in the future….


	3. Chapter 3

August Rush is an awesome movie and that's all there is to it. (he he he, I love On Demand.)

The usual disclaimer. I wish I owned it, I really do.

As Aang would say, "Now, check _this _out!"

...

Chapter 3

"…Just please…let me go…let me protect you." She pled with them and they couldn't deny her, not when she was right and not after all she'd done and been through in the past few years. Slowly, they all agreed and filed out, except for Willow.

She had left Kennedy taking care of the Potentials, they still needed looking after. Also, she wasn't quite sure how Kennedy fit into the Scooby dynamic yet. She watched Buffy carefully as her best friend and yes, she was still that after all they'd been through, sat defeated in the chair. She'd seen Buffy in some tense situations and some dangerous ones, but she'd never been afraid of her. Even when Buffy had fought her when she'd gone all veiny, she'd known in the back of her head that Buffy was trying to save her in her own way. Buffy's power as the Slayer had always existed to protect others, Willow especially. Angelus and Faith had gone after Willow for a reason. She was Buffy's closest friend and the person she'd leaned on in hard times, at least she had until college. But now her friend was scary and not in an ewww, frog way, but a scary, gonna snap at any moment, way. Willow didn't think that she'd mean to do it, but she had told them that she didn't have full control over her powers right now, especially the rage. And as much as Willow hated to admit it, Buffy had a right to be angry, especially with her.

"I wanted to say it," Willow whispered, breaking the silence and causing Buffy to look up at her.

"Say what?" Buffy rasped out.

"That…t..that I was s.s.s…sor..sorry." Willow rushed forward, afraid Buffy would interrupt and that she would have to stop, because she didn't think she'd be able to start up again. "I'm sorry…I'm sorry…I'm sorry…I've wanted to say it for so long, but I couldn't. 'Cause if I did…I'd have to admit that it was my fault and that I'd done such a horrible…horrible thing and then…then Tara died and I went all wooo," she waved her hands in the air and tears poured down her face. "And the time with the coven was all good and you know, helpful. But then I was back here and the First was happening and everything started snowballing and I still couldn't say it because then I'd be bad and…and I don't…don't," Willow slid to her knees, sobbing, her shoulders heaving. She barely noticed when Buffy got up and very carefully pulled the other girl into her arms. "I don't wanna' be bad, Buffy! I just wanna' be W..Willow again!"

"Shhhh, Shhhh," Buffy comforted her friend, concentrating really hard on not exerting to strength as she pushed Willow's hair out of her face and held her as everything came pouring out of the red-head. They stayed that way for a while until finally Willow pulled back, sniffling.

"I've…hic…got the hiccups now. I always…hic…get them when I cry." She rubbed the back of her hand across her eyes and snuffled some more.

"Go get a drink of water," Buffy told her.

Willow nodded and went to the sink. After gulping a glass down, the hiccups gone, she came back to sit next to Buffy on the floor, leaning her head against the blonde's shoulder. Buffy stayed silent for a moment and then spoke. Willow's honesty deserved a reward.

"I've always been a little jealous of you, you know?"

"Me?!," Willow looked up into Buffy's face, "Buffy, you're my hero!"

"Thank you," Buffy said sincerely. It really meant something to her that the other girl still thought so after all this time. "But you…you've always been better than me." She ignored the Willow's frantic head shaking. "It's true, Wills. Oh, you've got your faults, we all do, but…but it's all easy for you."

"Buffy, I was a total geek before I met you!"

"Silly," Buffy smiled bitterly at her, "That's just high school. I knew the minute I met you that you would go a lot further than any of us. You're so smart, Wills! Things…the things that really matter in the real word, are simple to you. And you're so strong, stronger than even you realize, but I see it all the time."

"Buffy, what are you talking about?" Willow was seriously confuzzled. "You're the strong one. You deal with things I would never be able to. And…and you make friends so easily…and people like you…"

"No, Wills, you still don't get it." Buffy sighed and settled against the couch behind her. "The Slayer stuff, sure, that's easy. Kill this, stake that, stop that Apocolypse, it's simple. But if it weren't for the Slayer stuff, I wouldn't be anything." Willow opened her mouth to protest but Buffy overrode her again. "Face it! I'm…I'm a washed up…cheerleader, for crying out loud! If I hadn't become the Slayer, the best thing I can say about myself is that I would have become simply another Cordelia. Even when I try I can't get half the good grades you get and with the Slayer stuff I just can't do anything normal. High school was…easier for me, even with all the crazy crap…because at least there I could pretend to be normal. It was all so simple there." Buffy whispered mournfully, "I felt like I was at least a little bit in control. I had Giles and Xander and…and…you. There I could at least make believe that I knew what I was doing so that you all wouldn't see the real me."

Willow slumped back on the floor. She'd known that Buffy held things back and that she'd never felt normal, but she'd never known she'd actually felt inferior and to _her_ of all people_. I've always known her brash 'I can do everything' attitude was a bit of an act but I didn't really know how deep down it went_, she thought to herself.

"Then we all went off to college," Buffy continued, lost in her own memories and not even aware of Willow's wide-eyed look. "I told you the truth at the end of Graduation, you know." Willow gazed at her, uncomprehending. "I do love you, for choosing to stay with me and not go off to some far away college. I knew that I was holding you back, but at the same time I didn't care, because I needed all of you so much. But then college started and my careful little world began to unravel." Her blue eyes met Willow's green ones, "You blossomed, Wills. You were finally free of the constraints that high school held you in and you flew. You became everything I knew you could be, smart and strong and confident. Everything I feared you would become, because now you might see who I really was." Buffy's eyes were dead again. "Oh, I tried to keep up, I really did. I went to classes and I patrolled and I tried desperately to make my life into something semi-normal so I could fit it, but it just didn't work. And you had Oz and then Tara and I wasn't the most important thing in your life anymore, which was how it was supposed to work. I was the Chosen one, not you. I was the one whose life was supposed to be so strange. You guys had just been caught up in it. I wanted you all to have the chance to get away."

"But I didn't want to get away!" Willow yelled, interrupting. "I chose to help, Buffy, you know that! All of us did, me, Giles, Xander, Anya, T...Tara. We just wanted to help! "

"I know, but it was my choice to let you. I let you get dragged back in and look what happened. I died."

"And I chose to bring you back," Willow's eyes were hard. "It was my choice, Buffy. I…I didn't even think for one moment that I wouldn't do it. I don't think I ever even really accepted the fact that you were really dead." _My hands are shaking_, she thought absently, _I wonder when that happened_? "I saw your body and I was there when we buried you, but I never really accepted it. I don't think I…I could accept it, because if I did, I would break down completely. I just began researching ways to bring you back. I knew I could do it. I had to. If I didn't…then…then you would be really gone and I WOULDN'T LET YOU BE GONE!" Willow fisted her hands together to stop them from shaking.

"I played it off to the others as if I where bringing you back to help the world, to keep the Hellmouth safe, but that wasn't it. The world could go to…to Hell in a handbasket for all I cared…I just wanted you back. You go on about how you were jealous of me and stuff and how I blossomed or whatever but Buffy, I never would have done any of that stuff without you." _I'm angry. How'd I get so angry?_

"I was so shy and I had absolutely no confidence in myself. I couldn't even tell Xander about my crush on him. Xander, for Goddess sake! Then this slightly ditzy, very crazy blonde comes into my life. You actually talked to me…like I was a person and everything…like I was worthy of being liked. Do you know how much that meant to me?" Buffy could only shake her head dumbly. "And you did it so easily, like it was the simplest thing in the world. Then you proceed to turn my life upside down with…you know…the vampires and everything…and suddenly I'm out saving the world! I mean, you did most of the saving, but I got to help and stuff…It was just so great. Well, really scary too, but still great."

"Buffy, you're the center of my world. I don't know how it happened and I don't necessarily like it all the time, cause it can be sorta crazy, but that's the way it is. Sure, I've grown and matured and learned things and I've even loved other people, but that's never gonna' change." Slowly a realization began to form in Buffy's mind. "When you went away I made myself believe that you were…were in some Hell Dimension or something…and I bullied everyone, even Tara, into bringing you back. I'm sorry about…about the Heaven thing, cause it really sounded great, but I can't and I…I won't be sorry about you being back in my life. I…I just can't be." As Willow trailed off into a whisper and hid her head in her arms, sobbing, the realization solidified in Buffy's head. I wonder if she even knows, she wondered, or if she's even admitted it to herself.

"I have to go." Buffy whispered brokenly

"But…," Willow's head shot up.

"No, Wills," Buffy held her hand out, it was shaking and her whole body was covered in sweat. "Look at me. I can't even touch people without concentrating so hard I get the shakes. I could crack you like an egg," Buffy whispered hoarsely, trying to make her friend understand. "With just a little pressure, I could break every bone in your body. And the rage, Wills, it's like this little voice in my head telling me to kill everything that gets in my way. I'm not safe enough to even be around my friends, much less some silly newbie Potential who's gonna try and push all my buttons! If I'm lucky, I'll just hurt them. If I'm not…"

"Where are you gonna go?" Willow whispered.

...

Author's Note:

I would first off like to thank all my reviewers and those people who tagged this fic, you guys keep me updating so quick (I rhyme)! I would like to address a few issues before I close, however. To address the angst issue. Yes, there's a lot right now and will be for a few more chapters. There are a lot of things the Scoobies need to deal with, that's how life works. It will be getting lighter though, don't be to afraid. They simply need to vent for a bit.

Also, as Meet-Nightmist (who so cleverly guessed) and I know, there is a couple in this story. If you haven't figured it out by now well...just keep reading, I will bash you over the head with it later. They won't be getting together right away, there is much to do and see before that. This will likely be a lengthy set up and the story isn't going to go the way you think it will (at least I hope not).

Finally, this chapter may upset people. I realize that. But let me make something very clear. I don't think Buffy was just a washed up cheerleader or anything. I just thought that she never really got a chance to develop confidence in anything outside of slaying. I don't think any of them did. That's partially what this fic is about. But, if you wanna be mad at me, that's okay. I'll deal.

OMAKE:

Author- I've just had a major epiphany!

Friend #1- What is it now? -sigh

Author- If I write really fast, people are happy!

Friend #2- Uh huh

Author- And if their happy, they review more!

Friend #2- And?

Author- ...th...that's pretty much it... -smiles ingratiatingly

Friend #1/Friend #2- sigh (SMACK!!)


	4. Chapter 4

HEAR YE! HEAR YE! I am now officially extending a formal invitation. Please God, someone out there be my beta reader!!

Alright, now that the groveling is over on to serious business. Disclaimer: I am a student. So any chance you all out there who want to sue me for using Buffy have of getting money is rather on the slim side. Moreover, I am an art student. So the likelyhood of me EVER having money just keeps of getting smaller.

The world out there is a mighty big place, kiddo, and we are but little crill in the ocean.

-anonymous

...

Chapter 4

Buffy sat next to a pine tree, listening to the birds and letting the wind flow her hair, just being. She hadn't done anything like this in a very long time. She thought the last time she'd just sat had been before her mother died, at college. Despite her words to Willow, she hadn't completely hated college. There had been some really good times there. Before the Initiative had gone all wonky on her she'd been having some fun. She had actually felt like she was living a little, growing up some. But, of course, it hadn't lasted long. It was nice now to just take some time and sit under a tree. Here, she didn't have to think about anything other than where she was going to go next.

Her thoughts wandered back to a few days ago, when she had finally left the Scoobies and the rest of the Potentials behind. The Potentials had been confused, but not to sad. They'd felt no special love for Buffy. She was just the crazy lady that had yelled at them and made them fight when all they really wanted to do was run away and hide. The person that had gotten a lot of them killed. Kennedy had actually had the temerity to smirk at her, the little twit.

Of the Scoobies, only Willow and Giles had actually given her a decent goodbye. She and Willow had worked out a lot of their issues that had been bothering them.

_(Flashback)_

"So you've…got a plan and everything." Willow wilted a little. Buffy was being much too logical about all of this. It made it so much harder to argue with her.

"Sort of," she grinned weakly, "not much else to do in the past few days! If…if I stayed here, Wills, there'd be all this pressure to do other stuff and I'd never really learn, never be safe enough."

"I know what you mean," Willow thought about her own powers and what she'd gone through when she'd gotten back from England. Somehow, there hadn't been anytime for meditation or learning anymore, just the usual fly by the seat of the pants magick. She could feel the power even now, roiling below the surface, wanting to be used.

"You're gonna hafta' go yourself some time soon," Buffy gazed at her with calm eyes. "You've grown too powerful. Gile's can't teach you anymore and you're going to have to learn control over _every_ part of your magick."

"When did you get so smart?" Willow grumbled, discomforted by Buffy's honesty. "Thought you said that was my deal?"

"I've known for a while now," Buffy smiled sadly, "I just didn't want to let you go and then Tara died…and the consequences came back to haunt me."

"I'm…sorry about that, too." Willow sunk back again, "Going all veiny and sorta, you know…"

"Kicking my butt?" The Slayer said wryly.

"I kinda did, didn't I?" Willow grinned a little, then rushed on, "For which I am eternally sorry, of course!"

"I was scared, you know?" Buffy said, "I always knew you were strong, but that…wow."

"I don't want you to be scared of me!"

"I wasn't scared of you, Wills," Buffy looked the red-head in the eye, "I was scared because I couldn't go full out against you."

"You didn't…I always thought…? Wait a minute, are you just saying that?"

"No silly," Buffy smirked, only Willow would be offended. "I'm not saying you still couldn't have beaten me. You were pure magick, Wills. But I might have lasted longer. I'm trickier than you are, remember? But I just couldn't seem to get past the fact that you were Willow and Willows aren't evil."

"Is that a fact?" Willow asked lightly, though her chest hurt.

"I saw a show on Discovery Channel about them once," Buffy joked, "Scientist's have documented proof. You weren't and aren't evil, Willow, you were just hurting. I tried, in my own stupid way, to help. Xander is just better at that stuff than I am."

"Yeah, he'll never let up about that yellow crayon, you know that, right?"

"It will live on in infamy for many years to come." The girl's grinned at each other. "I'm gonna come back." Her voice was desperate and questioning.

"I know," Willow gazed over at her friend. "And I'm gonna be waiting."

As the sun set, the two girls sat huddled on the floor of the hotel room, watching each other, clinging to their promises.

(_Present)_

Giles had just looked at her for a few minutes and then nodded his head. Buffy was glad he hadn't made a big deal of it. She didn't know if they would ever be able to go back to the way they had been before he'd left. She still didn't fully understand why he'd left. He'd kept going on about how she'd had to grow up and how she'd leaned on him so much. It was true, she'd had to grow up fast and she had been leaning on him, but not in the way he'd thought.

Giles had been, and still was, like a father to her. She didn't think of him as her Watcher, she thought of him as family. And when he'd left it had been like her father leaving all over again. Her relationship with him now was full of confusion and hateful feelings. She hoped that one day she'd be grown up enough to sit down and talk through it like she had with Willow, but it wasn't going to happen right now. Their time would come later and Giles was smart enough to realize that.

Xander would just have come later as well, if he ever talked to her again. Buffy knew Anya's death had hit him hard and she honestly wanted to be around to help him through it, but she had other things to deal with first. Besides, their relationships with other people had never been something she and Xander agreed on. He had hated Angel, looked down on Riley, and despised Spike. She had threatened to slay Anya once or twice and honestly had never gotten the Cordelia thing. About the only thing people they had agreed on were Giles, Willow, Dawn, and Tara. When the time had come for her to leave Xander had just given her a resentful look and gone back into his room, slamming the door. She hadn't even been able to make herself go after him. And Dawn, Buffy shook her head, Dawn was a conundrum as always.

_(Flashback)_

"I do love you, you know," Buffy let the backpack drop to the ground as she sat down on the patio chair next to her sister. Dawn had escaped to the hotel pool and was currently lounging in her bikini, a towel down to protect her from the hot plastic of the chair. She just sniffed and kept reading her magazine, ignoring Buffy in an obvious manner.

"Oh come on," Buffy whined, "You can't say I'm running away again. I'm right here saying goodbye!"

They sat like that for a few more minutes, Dawn with her head buried in Teen and Buffy looking at her. "Aghhh!" Dawn finally threw her magazine down on her lap. "The puppy dog eyes are not supposed to be used on siblings, you know that. We're only supposed to use them on old people and guys."

"What?!" Buffy scoffed, "You use them on me all the time, or you try to anyway."

"I'm the little sister," Dawn stuck her nose in the air and looked away, "It's like, a privilege."

"Oh please."

"So who are you gonna dump me on?"

Buffy looked sadly over at her sister. Dawn was trying to act to cool and uncaring, but Buffy could see the trembling her hands. Her new sense of smell brought a whiff of fear-smell, it was a little like burned popcorn, to her.

"I've signed some papers giving Giles temporary custody over you while I'm gone. Wills downloaded them from some lawyer site."

"Giles!" Dawn's voice was high pitched and indignant, "Buffy, he's like old and stuff. I can't talk to him about girly things. He just get's all red and polishes his glasses. What do you expect me to do if I want to talk somebody about sex or something. 'Cause I could you know. I could decide to have sex with lots of guys while you're gone!"

"Then I wouldn't talk to Giles about it," Buffy offered, her voice dry, "He about had a hernia when her finally realized why Angel went bad. Besides, you can always talk to Wills."

"I can't talk to her about sex with guys, Buffy, she's gay."

"What do you think she and Oz were doing when he wasn't all wolfy, Dawn," Buffy smirked at the horrified look on Dawn's face.

"Thank you, now I'm going to have that image in my head all afternoon." She flipped her sunglasses to the top of her head. "Why can't you take me with you?"

Buffy winced at the pain in the younger girl's voice and the hurt in her eyes. She sighed, "Look at me Dawn, really look. I had to fight not to snap Kennedy's neck a few minutes ago and all she did was look at me wrong. I can't go make up with one of my best friend's in the world because I'm afraid if he makes me angry that I'm gonna go all psycho on him. There's a part of me that wants to go out and start hunting down demons right now, in broad daylight."

"Buffy…"

"There's a nest of vamps in a sewer about 3 miles from here," Dawn stopped and looked over at her sister in shock. Buffy's voice was flat like she was reciting statistics but her eyes had started to bleed yellow and there was a feral smile on her face. "Two miles to the west there's what must be a demon bar because there's all kinds of things there…" Dawn shivered involuntarily. Then Buffy shook her head and turned to look at her sister with scared eyes. "I'm not really fit for company right now."

"You're never fit for company, Buffy," Dawn tried to make a comeback, but her heart wasn't really in it. Dawn had hated watching her sister after she had come back from the dead. She had wandered around with flat eyes and no interest in anything. She never wanted to see that again. "We can't get a break, can we Buffy?"

" 'Guess not," Buffy gave a little chuckle and then shook her head. "Dawn, I'm not mom. I tried to be after she died, but I'm just not cut out for it."

"I never wanted you to be mom, Buffy. I had one of those and she was great. I just want you to be my sister."

"I want that to," blue eyes looked into blue, "but the way I am now, I can't be. I'm afraid of myself Dawn. The one thing I was always sure of in this world was that I was supposed to protect you and right now, protecting you means leaving."

"Geez," there wasn't really anything Dawn could say to that.

"Giles is gonna be going back to England for a while. He needs to find all the Watchers that he can and try to rebuild the old networks. I need you to keep an eye on him, make sure he doesn't work to hard. Also, try to make sure he doesn't make it as stuffy as the last one. Shake things up a little, you're good at that."

"True," Dawn could only nod and slip her glasses back onto her face, settling into the chair again. "I have been known to make a bit of trouble in my time."

"Thanks," Buffy stood up and picked up her backpack from the ground. "He's given me your guy's address over there, so I'll write. Where I'm going there aren't many cell towers."

"Hey Buffy!" Dawn called out to her sister as she started to walk away, looking at her over the top of her shades. "You might wanna look into getting a little concealer," she smirked and pointed to the area underneath her eyes, "You've gotta few bags…"

"Bitch," Buffy protested and almost brought her hand up reflexively.

Dawn's mocking laugh followed her as she walked out of the pool area and into the parking lot. It was about time to start her journey.

"And there she goes, the hero of our story. The fight ended, the enemy defeated, our hero walks majestically into the sunset. Her thoughts are already on the next group of people she can help and the next enemy to be…"

"Shut up, Andrew," Buffy yelled at the ex-super villain as he monologued from where he was hidden behind a car, following her with a camera.

"Right, shutting up now," he coughed and put the camera down.

"I might wanna see that when I come back though," She smiled at him over her shoulder, surprising him, "So keep filming, okay."

"You got it!" Andew squeaked out.

He was still annoying, Buffy thought to herself as she started down the sidewalk, but it couldn't hurt to be nice to him. For the first time in a long time, even though she still had some bad stuff hanging over her head and some tough times ahead of her, Buffy was actually looking forward to what came next.

_(Present)_

Buffy got up from the ground, dusting off the seat of her pants. It was time to start learning her new powers. Time to get back to basics. She pulled the carton of eggs out from the grocery bags and sighed. This was so going to ruin her manicure.

...

Author's Note:

Not much to say this update. People keep reviewing and so I keep writing. It's like an addiction or something. Next chapter you'll actually get to see where Buffy ended up going and what she has in mind to start learning to control herself. (An actual story, isn't that amazing!) I will be telling a bit of what the rest of Scoobies end up going through as well, but this is a Buffy focused kind of fic. Also yes, there will be action and a bad guy, so don't worry. Thanks for the insight on the writing so far. You keep it up and so will I.


	5. Chapter 5

not mine, not mine, not mine -pout

...

Buffy calculated and realized she had been through 237 eggs in her quest to control her strength. She was actually rather proud of herself about that. It had taken over 500 eggs when she had first gotten her powers.

She had gone back to the original lessons that had been taught to her by her first Watcher, Merrick. Giles had been lucky, he'd come in after all of the basics had been pounded into her head, but now she had to return to them. Thus came about her current surroundings. Buffy looked around her, sighing slightly, none of her friends or family would ever believe her when she told them about where she'd ended up. She was officially in the middle of nowhere.

Buffy had thought long and hard about how she was going to have to go about getting control over her powers and she'd only been able to come up with one solution, to get as far away from people as possible. When Merrick had first been teaching Buffy he had set up a training ground in an old abandoned warehouse. There, if she made a lot of noise or broke some stuff, nobody was likely to care or notice. Buffy had actually considered that when she'd started thinking about where to train, but she'd come up with a few problems.

The first problem was that the warehouse district was like demon central in any city. Everything from your common vampire to your high-level, end the world demon, gathered there. Buffy didn't have any problem taking out a few baddies, it was her job, but she didn't want to keep getting interrupted every five minutes either.

The other issue she'd come across had been the shear scale of her strength. Before, as just a regular Slayer, Buffy had been really strong, but she hadn't been like, Superman strong. Now she figured she might be able to give the boy in blue a run for his money. She'd actually experimented on a couple of cars she'd found in a junkyard on the way here. It had been a little disturbing to realize she could do a curl with an F250. There was just no way she could safely experiment with her powers anywhere near people. Humans, homeless and regular union workers, also frequented warehouse districts. If she messed up and threw or punched too hard, she could take someone out.

So with all those things on her mind the only realistic solution she could come up with was to sequester herself in the woods somewhere. She'd walked and hitchhiked way up to Oregon, the only real danger was to anyone who'd tried to mess with her. The Oregon idea had actually come about while she was holed up in the hotel in San Fransisco. She'd watched a lot of TV there and this Oregon travel commercial had kept coming up. Buffy had certainly felt the need to "get away from it all." Besides, it had looked very pretty.

There had been one problem with this grand idea of course; Buffy wasn't exactly a woodsy kinda gal. Her idea of camping out was staying at the Hilton. Now certainly her standards had taken a bit of a beating over the years. During her time as a Slayer she'd ended up in some interesting places. Sewers, graveyards, crypts, even the woods around campus, just to name a few. She'd even slept in a few of those places a couple of times, not to mention the time crammed in her house with all the Potentials. That had been an adventure in and of itself. But the fact of the matter was that at the end of the day there had been access to a fridge or a convenience store, not to mention a shower. Though it wasn't always a hot one, at least around the Potentials.

Fortunately for Buffy, she now had access to the memories of Slayers that had lived in the past. It wasn't conscious access. She couldn't think, "Oh, I need to go to 1812 and live the life of Jane Smith." It was more like, she came across a situation she was unfamiliar with and her subconscious provided her with a solution. Like starting a fire for instance, Buffy had no idea how to build a fire from scratch unless it involved hairspray and a lighter. But by God she had found herself digging in the dirt and gathering stones and wood before she knew it. It had been a little freaky at first to find herself doing things without realizing it, but after a while she'd come think it really cool. Take that Mrs. Carmichael. She'd been Buffy's Girl Scout Leader in her one attempt to explore the great outdoors in her youth. She'd told Buffy if she ever got caught without her cell phone and her credit card she was doomed to die a horrible death. Buffy had quit the next day. The old bat was probably rolling in her grave right now.

So she'd used some of her meager savings to buy some essential supplies, she'd gotten a few looks at the amount of eggs, and had hiked off into the Oregon wilderness. One good thing about her new strength was that she could carry as much as she wanted and not have problem. A suitable amount of distance in, when she didn't feel any more human presence, she'd set up camp next to a lake and got to training.

The eggs had come first. She needed to be able to handle delicate things with no conscious thought. Buffy had started out with just picking eggs up and had eventually graduated to juggling. When she'd been able to absently juggle five eggs at the same time she figured she'd had it down, though she still practiced occasionally. Then she'd moved on to testing her limits.

The fastest human had been clocked at about 38 miles per hour. Buffy had clocked herself once at about 48 when she'd been a normal Slayer. Now she was much faster. Her strength had also improved exponentially. She was picking up and swinging around some of the fallen massive trees that made up the Oregon rainforest. Forget Faith's 6x6 for Kakistos, she was looking for something the size of a tank to stake. She'd destroyed so much rotten timber, she tried to stay away from the live trees, that she figured if the Slaying gig didn't work she could go into the toothpick business. She'd be rich.

Of course, now that she had her strength and speed mastered in basic situations she had to conquer the hard stuff. It was one thing to be able to control her self against a tree and something completely different to control herself during a fight. Under controlled conditions such things were easy, but a Slayers life was anything but controlled. Buffy knew that she had to be able to trust her new powers around the weakest of people. She would never forgive herself if she lost control and hurt someone on accident. She'd seen the trauma Faith had gone through.

So now, six months after she had left the hotel in San Francisco and left her friends and family behind, Buffy was ready to emerge from the wilderness and enact the second phase of her plan. Her time in the woods had been enlightening to say the least and she would never forget it, but Buffy was a city girl. She liked her malls and coffee shops, especially the malls. She was a social girl at heart and six months of isolation from people and normal conversation was driving her bonkers. She'd known it was time to leave when she'd actually caught herself having a conversation about fashion with a squirrel.

...

Author's Note:

As promised, so delivered. Here is the next chapter. I realize it's kind of short but that's because we've gotta' get this story movin'! Buffy's time in the woods, while interesting, is not really that vital to the production of the story. She learns a few thing there, but her strength and speed (though improved) aren't the main focus of the story. Everybody knows Buffy's strong. That's part of the reason we all watched. To see a 5 foot nothing blond girl beat up on a massive demon is really cool. But for this fic it's the other things she has to learn about her powers that is so vital (yes, she's getting some new stuff, not just improvements on the old).

There is also a lot of introspection in this chapter. It kind of has to. There's no one else to talk to but the squirrels!

Finally, this is a shameless plug for my other little oneshot fic, INVITATION. It's this idea that was rattling around in my brain for a while (there's a lot of empty space up there). Funny, funny! Go check it out!

OMAKE

Buffy- So I know that orange isn't really my color, but what do you think about if I just used it as an accent color? I figure if it's just a small amount it wouldn't make my skin look all sallow and stuff like it usually does.

Squirrel- Silence

Buffy- Well fine, if you think it's gonna be that big of a deal just tell me and I won't do it!

Squirrel- Nose twitch

BuffY- Are you even going to voice an opinion on this or are you going to just leave me hanging here!

Squirrel- Scratch

Buffy- sigh- jeez, I'm going crazy here. I'm talking to squirrels about color coordination. Squirrels don't know anything about colors, they see in black and white. What

am I thinking?!

A FEW MOMENTS LATER

Buffy- So what do you think about this year's shoe fashions?

P.S. Thanks for all the continued support!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I'm like the fourth monkey. They don't see, hear, or know anything. I don't own anything.

...

Chapter 6

Good grief, Buffy thought, as she was buffered back and forth in the crowded airport, now I know how poor Cho An felt when she came to America. Hong Kong airport was crazy. She couldn't understand a word anyone was saying and all the people banging into her were making the Slayer rise to the surface. She had to get out of here. Struggling to keep her temper, she made it outside and onto the sidewalk. Breathing deeply, she pulled out the map Giles had given her and patted her wallet. She had directions and cash, now she just had to find a cabbie that spoke even a little English.

Hours later the cabbie jabbered at her in some weird pigeon English she was sure he _thought_ she understood and pointed out the window. They'd long ago left the main part of Hong Kong and were now in some outskirt, boondocks area. If Buffy were a normal girl she might have been worried, stories of foreign kidnappings and all, but she was the Slayer. Unless the guy had a nuke hidden in the trunk, there wasn't much he could do to hurt her. So she shrugged and handed him what she assumed was enough money, and by his smile a very large tip, and got out of the cab. She had packed light and when she pulled out her duffle bag behind her, the cabbie roared off in a screech of tires.

"You have a good day now," Buffy grumbled under her breath and turned to what she supposed was her new home for a while. Only, all she could see was a whole lot of stairs. Sheesh, she thought to herself as she began to climb, why do I feel like I'm on the set of one of Xander's weird, old Kung Fu movies. Next thing you know, some weird dude with a long white beard is gonna appear and start talking to me in riddles or maybe some ninja's will attack. I think I'd prefer the ninja's. I've had enough of weird people speaking in riddles. Oh well, as long as he isn't carrying any cheese, I don't think I could handle that.

After climbing the eight million stairs she stood staring. There was a high wall that ran as far as the eye could see enclosing the area and a really big set of doors in front of her along the path. There was a large bell hanging to the left side of the door with a rope hanging down. Shrugging, Buffy went up and rang the bell. Then she set her backpack down and proceeded to wait and wait and wait some more.

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me!" Buffy yelled and picked up her bag. "I am not Qui Chan….whatever his name was! This is stupid." Not a patient person to begin with, Buffy's temperament had not improved with the addition of her new Slayer driven rage. "Stupid Giles and his stupid ideas," she muttered as she leapt easily over the wall and into the garden on the other side.

_(Six Months Ago, in the hotel)_

"You want me to what?" Giles pushed his glasses up in a reflex action.

"I want to know if you know anybody who could teach me about all that Chi stuff you used to go on and on about when we used to train together."

"Chi stuff…Buffy did you pay attention to anything I said back then?" Giles just sighed. He didn't know why he was surprised, he should be used to the fact that she didn't listen to him by now.

"Well of course," Buffy's voice was indignant, "How else would I know about the stuff? So what if I didn't, you know, retain every word," she got a little guilty looking, "It's not like there was a test or something later."

"So why, if it isn't that important, do you want to know about it now?"

"Well just cause it couldn't help me then doesn't mean it can't help me now." She looked at Giles from her seat on the chair inside the hotel room. The air conditioning was on full blast, it was over a hundred outside, and it made her shiver a little as the artificial breeze cooled her skin. She was getting paler than usual, she decided absentmindedly as she rubbed her arms. Those last weeks in Sunnydale she had spent so much time patrolling and such at night that she hadn't been able to get outside during the day much. Two weeks trapped in a hotel room certainly hadn't helped her get back her tan either.

"Listen," her voice was low, "I'm running on empty here in the ideas department. I have an idea of how to get the basics down, it shouldn't be much different than when I first got Chosen, but after that I'm in new territory. The only thing I can think of was all that Chi stuff you used to talk about. You know, how if I could control my inner power than how I could be so much more effective as a Slayer."

"Yes, I remember talking about it a few times," Giles nodded. He had only mentioned it every training session.

"Right, so I never had any interest in learning about those kinda things back then. There wasn't time and to be honest, I probably wouldn't have listened even if there was." Giles looked at her, surprised. It wasn't like Buffy to admit things like that.

"Oh come on, Giles," Buffy grinned at him self depreciatingly making something in his chest tug painfully. "It's not like I'm the sharpest tool in the shed. I can be a little dense sometimes, we all know it. The fact of the matter is I'm 'live in the moment girl'," she put her fingers up in little air quotes. "I've had to live that way if I wanted to survive. But now I've gotta' get beyond that. Also, that chi stuff, it's sorta' important now, so spill."

Impressed Giles looked at his former pupil; she had really done a lot of growing up in the past few weeks. Maybe he should have locked her in a hotel room earlier. Shaking his head at the impossible dream he got up and wandered over to the desk that sat in the corner of the room. Pulling out the complimentary pad of paper and pen he wrote down a name, or at least he tried to.

"Buggering cheap pens," he muttered and shook the pen in his hand, scribbling some on the paper to get the ink flowing. There was no response from the pen, excuse or ink wise, and he pulled out a pen from his jacket pocket. Buffy watched him fondly as he wrote in quick, concise strokes. She really had missed him and his grumbly British ways.

"Here you are," he handed her the paper when he was done. "He's an old friend of the family."

"Is he a Watcher?"

"His family used to be part of the inner circle but they actually dropped out of favor a few centuries ago. Something about a dispute on how the Slayers were being treated as property by the Council," he smiled wryly.

"I like him already," Buffy grinned back at him and for a moment they were in complete accord like they always had been. Then old memories and new disputes intruded and they were once again back where they started, going no where fast. Coughing uncomfortably, he shifted in his seat and addressed her again.

"Now he's a very traditional man, Buffy," he told her, "You aren't going to be able to get away with the things you have around me. You'll have to behave yourself."

"Sure, sure," Buffy looked down at the paper in her hands. "Hong Kong?!"

_(Present)_

"Sure I'll behave myself," she muttered as she trekked across the sand that some idiot had put in the middle of the garden. It was like one big litter box. She'd been running all over the place looking for this teacher guy and nothing yet. She knew there was someone here. She could feel a human presence but it kept disappearing. "I'll be really polite when I bash his head in. That is, if. I. CAN. FIND. HIM!"

"Find who?" Came a voice from behind her.

Spinning in the sand, Buffy laid eyes on an awkward looking man dressed in robes. He was about 5'5" and had a sort of rolly polly look to him. His head was shaved bald and he had twinkling black eyes. They were narrowed at her at them moment.

"You do realize that you're standing in the sand garden that took me four hours to create, don't you?"

"Huh? What?" Buffy looked down at her feet and then around at her surroundings. In fact, if she looked at it right, the sand box did have an organized look to it. "Oh, sorry!" She sprang aside, landing with grace in front of the monk on the grass.

His eyes widened slightly at the ten foot leap she had just made and then he nodded. "You must be the student that Rupert Giles wanted me to take on."

"Yeah, that's me. Wait," she pointed a finger at him but he had already turned and headed off down a path further into the compound. "Wait a minute, you're Master Shin?"

The monk didn't answer but rather continued down the path, making Buffy chase after him.

"Look," Buffy huffed, "I don't know how you guys do things around here normally, but I haven't got time for it. I've gotta get control and then get back out there into the field. My friends need my help, demons to kill and all that."

He kept silent as they rounded a bend and went up a small incline. On the top of the small rise was a small stone building. He stopped, clapped his hands and bowed to it, and then continued on.

"Right," Buffy nodded at the building, exasperated, "Let's just ignore the world saving girl here. Why not, everyone else does? It's not like she does anything important or anything? I mean hello," she grabbed the man's arm and forced him to look at her, "I need to learn from you and then leave. I don't really care if you like me or not!"

His black eyes just stared back at her, impassionate, and then he moved on. Buffy looked down at her hand, frowning. She hadn't been holding on to him that hard, but he shouldn't have been able to get out of her grip.

"Jeez, okay look," she hitched up her bag and chased after him again, catching up as he entered a low stone cottage. "I think we've gotten off on the wrong foot here. I'm normally a very likable gal, at least I used to be. But anyway, I'm willing to do whatever you need me to do but I have to get control over this stuff."

"Why?" He asked out of the blue.

"Why?" Buffy frowned at him, "Didn't Giles tell you anything about me?"

"Rupert knows that I prefer to learn about my students on my own." He sat down cross-legged on a reed mat and gestured for her to do the same on the one that sat across from him.

"You at least know about the Slayer thing, right?" Buffy slumped down on the floor.

"Yes, I am aware of your status as the Chosen One, but I am unsure of why you are here. The Council has not allowed the Slayer to be taught by my family for generations."

"The Council," Buffy frowned at him, "Oh geez, have you got a lot to catch up on. Alright, here's how it goes…"

For the next twenty minutes she explained the circumstances that had brought her here, trying to keep her voice as calm as she could. She didn't go a lot into her past or about the whole dying thing, she just told the story about how the First had forced them to activate all the Potentials and how she'd gotten her supped up powers. He sat frowning for a moment, taking it all in.

"So you are no longer the only Chosen One?" His voice was soft. "That is indeed most momentous."

"Yeah, it's great. Look, can we get back to the part where you're supposed to teach me how to control this stuff."

"Why?" He cocked his head and looked at her.

"Why what?" Now Buffy was really confused.

"Why are you in such a hurry?" She just stared at him, uncomprehendingly. "If I understand you correctly there are now hundreds of Slayers running around. What do they need you for?"

Buffy frowned at him, "Look mister, I don't know what kind of Watcher or ex-Watcher you are but just because those girls are Slayers know doesn't mean everything's hunky dory. They need to be brought together and trained or they're just sitting ducks."

"Yes," he folded his hands into his sleeves, "I understand that. But are not Rupert Giles and the rest of your friends taking care of it? You are but a simple Slayer. What impact can you have? What more can you add to their cause but another pair of hands?"

"Well I…," Buffy froze, caught at an impasse. He was right. Buffy had been so focused on getting control over herself and getting back into the fight that she had never stopped to think what she was going to do when she got there.

What was she going to do with the rest of her life? She could try and teach, she certainly knew a lot about Slaying, but to be honest she wasn't that good a teacher. Look at the disaster she had made with the last group of Potentials she had been given. They had rebelled and kicked her out of the house for cryin' out loud. Faith, for all her faults, had turned out to be a much better teacher than Buffy ever had been. I'm an anachronism now, she snorted to herself.

The new waves of Slayers were going to be completely different than she ever was. They would still fight and die of course, it was the nature of the business. But they were going to be able to fight in teams and call on back-up, to have friends and days off and even lives of their own outside of Slaying. It was a whole new way of doing things.

Buffy had never worked in a team. Oh she had the Scoobies of course and they added their own dynamic to the cause, but in the end she had been the Slayer. They could provide backup and do research and Willow had started helping more with the spells but the final fight had always been Buffy's. She had been the one responsible for their safety, for their continued existence. Even when Kendra and Faith had come something had always gone wrong and she'd been left alone again. She was the last line of defense and it had become ingrained in her being that she always would be, because there had never been anyone else to help her.

"I…I don't know," her laugh was almost a sob, "I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing."

Master Shin looked at her and then nodded, saying, "Well, that is a good place to be."

"What?"

"If one is perfectly aware of one's place in the universe, one is usually wrong," he told her, "The only thing constant in this world is change. All we can do is try and adapt. So I will ask another question. Since you cannot decide what you will do later, what do you want to do right now?"

"Right now," she looked down at her hands, "I want to be able to trust myself. I don't want to be scared of myself anymore." Her voice hitched slightly and she felt the tingle of tears in her eyes. "I want you to help me. Please?"

"Then I will do so," his eyes were kind as he watched her and Buffy actually began to feel a bit of hope.

...

Author's Note:

Da Da DAAAAA! (Takes a bow)

Silence

Alrighty then, I know you're out there. I got some reviews on the last chapter and people seemed to like it. To be honest I was a little worried about it, I'm glad it was so well taken. This chapter is a little different. We are now getting down to the nitty gritty. Buffy needs to get control over her powers, yes, but to do that she's going to have to take a good look at who she's become and what she wants to be in the future. She's never had the time or inclination to sit down and reflect before, there was to much happening, but now she has to. I always got the feeling during the show that Buffy desperately wanted to be able to change her life but at the same time was very afraid to because if she did she would have to really look back at her life.

People have a tendency to get so caught up in the momentum of life that they don't that they rush down a path and rarely take to the time to wonder if they even want to be there or how they can get off. At least, that's they way it is for me anyway.

I actually considered just dropping into this world in the future where the bad guy immediately shows up, but it seemed kinda weak to me. All of the fun is in the journey anyway, not the destination.

Looking forward to your responses and I'm off to write the next chapter.

OMAKE:

Master Shin- Here

Buffy- What's this?

Master Shin- It's a rake.

Buffy- Is this some code for some master level kung fu move your gonna teach me?

Master Shin- No, this is because you ruined my sand garden. Now you get to fix it. -points to the sand garden

Buffy- pout -Fine

(Four hours later)

Master Shin- What in the name of Buddha have you done? -gapes at garden

Buffy- Well, I didn't get what all those swirls and stuff were for, so I just did what I usually do when I'm around this much sand. I made sand scuptures.

Master Shin- stunned silence

Buffy- I think the one of the pig is the best.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: ummmmmmmmmm...I got nothin'. Ain't mine.

...

Chapter 7

"This is really very uncomfortable. You get that, right?"

"It serves a purpose."

"What, making me look like an idiot?"

"There is that, but no. Your situation is unusual. I need to figure out your limits. I need to know what you can and cannot do."

"We've been doing this kind of stuff all week long," Buffy's voice grew irritated, "I'm ready to get on with the training already!"

Buffy had to stop herself from yelling because she was becoming unbalanced, wavering in her position. She and Master Shin, aka the most irritating man ever, had been doing all kinds of tests throughout the week.

Buffy had thought that Giles had been a tough taskmaster, pushing her to train more and more, but Master Shin was insane. If they weren't eating, rice and fish only, or sleeping on the floor of the tiny stone cottage, they were out doing stupid tests. Tests on her reflexes, tests on her speed, tests on her endurance, tests on every stupid little thing he could come up with. It was getting a little ridiculous. Buffy had thought she'd been done with tests when she'd quit college.

"You're a very angry person, aren't you?" Master Shin's voice interrupted her angry ramblings.

Buffy just glared at him. The guy was a little off. Buffy had been expecting…well, she didn't really know what she'd expected of a teacher. Maybe someone more like Giles or Merrick, a stuffy, serious British type. Only Chinese. Instead, she'd gotten Master Shin. Oh, he came off as all calm and masterful like and she'd even been impressed and a little intimidated. Then she'd gotten to know him. In reality he was an annoying, air headed old man. He had a tendency to set Buffy at a task and then wander off into the garden and not come back for hours. Buffy had currently been standing upside down in a handstand position for the past 48 hours.

"Of course I'm angry!" She had to force herself not to yell, just whisper really loudly, so that she didn't fall on her head. "Look at me. I'm upside down! I've got more important things to be doing you know. I could be out having fun and killing things right now."

"You're very obsessed with Slaying."

"Duh!" She'd come to hate his calm voice, "It's not like I've really ever had a choice. One girl in all the world and all that."

"Hmmmm."

"I've got a lot of responsibility on my shoulders I'll have you know. There's the whole saving the world thing, not mention my friends are counting on me."

"Yes," he picked up a pinecone and began studying it, "you've mentioned your friends before. Didn't they help you?"

"Sure they helped. There was the research of course, which I hate, and they helped with other things."

"I thought the Watcher was supposed to do the research?" He actually seemed to be paying attention now, curious.

"Well Giles did research, but the Scoobies made things go faster. Not to mention that Giles hates anything to do with computers, so Willow really helped out there. She's a bit of a hacker."

"So they helped with research. Did they help with the fighting as well?"

Buffy was silent for a moment. "They tried to help. I still don't understand why sometimes. It wasn't their destiny. They weren't supposed to fight, I was."

"Perhaps they simply wished to do what they could to support you."

"Yeah, they coulda' fooled me."

"Oh?"

"I mean, at the end there was no support." Buffy couldn't believe the stuff that was pouring out of her mouth. "They kicked me out of my own house! All I was trying to do was do what they wanted. It was all, 'Buffy, tell us what to do!' and 'Buffy, you need to be a leader.' and 'Buffy, save us!' Then, when I actually get an idea, and one that turned out to be right mind you, they go all Mutiny On The Bounty on me."

"Some girls died, I get that. Who the hell was the one that had to bury them?! But what did they think was going to happen? We were at war with the First Evil! They were all gung ho about defeating thing when it was only my butt on the line, but not they're own. Little piss-ant Potentials," she was grumbling darkly under breath by now, lost in her own world, "What the hell do they now about being a Slayer?"

"They thought it was all save-the-day, be-the-hero type stuff. Slaying isn't like that. That's what they never got. It's sitting there, in the dark, huddled on your bed at night, being too scared to go out and walk around. Because you know that the minute you leave, something out there is gonna come get you or you're gonna have to go get it and you know in all likelihood that you won't come away from that encounter alive. It's scary and I…I hate them for making me do it!"

By this time Buffy was sobbing the words, her entire body shaking with tremors. Her fingers were flexing, digging into the soil beneath her hands with rage, breaking the few fingernails she had left. She stayed like that for a moment, chest heaving, trying to calm the storm that raged within her. The one she hadn't even known was there.

"Wow," she sniffed and tried to wipe her face on her arm to get rid of the tears. "I really am kind of angry, aren't I?"

"People get angry all the time," Master Shin said after a moment. "Someone cuts them off in line. They aren't acknowledged at work or at home. Normal things happen in day to day life that cause irritation, because people are human and they want everything to go their own way. But of course, life doesn't."

"I don't like being like this."

"No one does. But the thing you must accept is that you will never be perfect. Things will always come up that are going to bother you. The question you must ask yourself is not 'Why am I angry?'. I am sure there are plenty of reasons for you to be angry with your friends and the world in general. The question you must really ask is 'Why do I feel the need to hang on to that anger?'. If I had to take a guess I'd say…"

"Because I need it." Buffy's voice was firm and there was no hesitation in her words. "I need it to keep back the fear. I've been angry since I was Chosen. I didn't think it was fair. It isn't fair. And if I was focused on the unfairness of it all, I didn't have to acknowledge the fear."

"Very good."

"You're very insightful for an old dude sometimes. You know that?"

"Yes."

"It's kind of irritating."

"Hmmm."

"So I can get down? 'Cause my hands are really killing me."

_Later that day_

Master Shin and Buffy sat by the one of the many ponds that dotted the compound. She was watching the fish, big orange and white koi, and listening to the birds. They had different birds here in China, a lot of really cool brightly colored ones. The whole country just felt different than America. It was so commercialized there, so little mystery. Over here people still worshiped trees and earth, they saw gods in everything. Buffy had a feeling that if she went up to somebody and explained what she really they would just nod and go about their business.

"I have to admit that when I heard from Mr. Giles about you and that he was sending you here, I was surprised." Master Shin's voice was soft. They were taking lunch and giving Buffy a rest before continuing.

"Why? Because the Council doesn't like your family?" She answered his unspoken question, "Giles told me."

"Ah, yes. My family split from the Council long ago."

"He said you guys didn't like how the Council was treating the Slayer?" She was blatantly fishing for information.

"How much do you know about the Council, Buffy?"

"Not much," she scratched the back of her head, "I wasn't a Council indoctrinated Slayer. They didn't find me until after I had been Chosen. I didn't even know that I was the Slayer until Merrick, my first Watcher, showed up. He didn't really talk about the Council, he was to busy training me, and then he died. Giles tried to go off into a boring tangent about it a few times when we first met. Duty, Honor, Whatever, but I sort of blew him off. The only thing I really know is that they're really old and really controlling. After that stupid Cruciamentum thing I told them to go stuff it."

"They didn't take it very well, I imagine."

"Not really. There were threats and stuff, but I just ignored them."

"I'm surprised they let you get away with it."

"They were kind of busy trying to control the second Slayer that showed up when I died the first time. Kendra was their perfect Slayer, but she didn't last long," Buffy frowned at the memory. She had liked Kendra. "Then Faith showed up and they had their hands full," she chuckled, "I should probably thank her for that one day. Compared to Faith I was like the poster child. Besides, I have annoying habit of not staying dead."

"The Council wasn't always so hidebound you know," he ignored first time dead thing, there would be time for that later, "It wasn't always based in England either."

"Really?" Buffy was intrigued. She'd never heard this before.

"Yes. They don't like to talk about it much since it reminds them that they aren't really in control, but the Council has to follow where the Slayer is. Think about it," he looked at her, "You have said you now have access to some of the lives you have lived in the past?"

"Yeah."

"Has the Slayer always been white?"

"No," Nikki Wood's was the first to come to mind.

"Has she always lived in the United States or in Europe?"

Buffy tried to concentrate and got a blur of images. "No…no she hasn't."

"Of course she hasn't. It just wouldn't make sense. The Slayer shows up where there is the most danger. There is only one at a time and so the Powers must send her to the area most afflicted by evil at that time. In your case it was the Hellmouth that was under Sunnydale. It was simply the most active at the time."

"So you're saying I get sent to Sunnyhell by chance?" Her voice was disgusted.

"Chance or fate, who can say?" He shook his head, "The truth is that for the past few centuries, which is a small amount of time in the history of an organization as old as the Council, the evil has been concentrated in Europe and then in the United States. In the past, in the time when my family was still associated with the Council, it was here in the East."

"Not only is the geography of the countries different. In the East, we do things differently than in the West," he sighed as he tried to explain, "When the Slayer kept showing up in the West it was the natural course of things for the British to take over. They were the ruling country at the time, the most powerful. Therefore they had the most to offer in terms of support and guidance. But they allowed their power to go to their heads. They no longer looked at the Slayer as something to be revered and protected, but as something to be used and discarded."

Buffy was absolutely fascinated. She had never really realized how old the Slayer line and the Council were. She'd known they were old in a logical sense, but it had never really penetrated. This was an organization that had been around since people had been living in caves. Since before cities and wars and even before writing had come into place. It was only natural that it would evolve and change over the course of time. She had always thought of it as something to hate and fear. It made her feel a little better that there was good in it.

"So," Master Shin slapped his knees and heaved himself up off the ground, "Enough reminiscing. You look to be rested enough and we have eaten. What say we get to the reason you came here?"

"Yeah, let's get to training," she stood up and dusted off her pants, setting off down the path behind him as he bustled ahead. All this talk off the Council was making her nostalgic. She wondered how the others were doing.

...

Author's Note:

I have to admit I am a little concerned about this chapter. It didn't come as easily as the others. I had so much information to get in and I wonder if it flows as well as I think it does. Soooo, give me yell and post your opinion. Yeah or Nay and if nay, what you think can be done to improve it.

As to the issue of the Council it always bothered me that we didn't hear more about them. I thought it was a very intriguing subject and the episodes surrounding the Cruciamentum were some of my favorite. I always wondered how it had evolved and changed over the years and if it had always been as controlling as it was portrayed or if had simply strayed from the path. This is a small peak into my answer on that question.

Also, we are now going to be getting into the lives of the rest of the Scoobies and how they are fairing out in the real world. So those people who were curious as to how I was planning on setting that up fasten your seat belt and hold onto your socks. We're gonna have some fun!

OMAKE:

Buffy- So I can get down? 'Cause my hands are really killing me?

Master Shin- Of course.

Buffy- flops onto her back- oh goody.

Master Shin- We should begin with the next task.

Buffy- shifting uncomfortably and grimacing -I think that's gonna have to wait.

Master Shin- Why?

Buffy- jumps to her feet and runs toward the bushes -You try holding it for 48 hours! I've gotta peeee!

...

Silly, I know. I wanna thank people for the continued reviews. As always, your information is greatly valued. And I was tickled pink to hear that people like my Omakes. I'm actually as funny as I think I am...wow.


	8. Chapter 8

DISCLAIMER:

-What's that behind your back?

-Nothin'

-I don't believe you. Show it to me?

-pout -Fine! But it's not mine I tell ya'! I was framed!

...

Chapter 8

_One Year, Six Months After the Fall of Sunnydale  
_

Rupert Giles sat at his desk, going through paperwork. It seemed that was all he was doing lately, going through paperwork. The past year and a half had been rather grueling. The mess left behind the by the First when it had blown up the Council had been extensive. It seemed it had chosen the exact right time to strike, during the annual Gathering of the Council's top leaders. It had also been systematically taking out the field operatives that Watched the Potentials. There were a few older, retired personnel left, but even most of them had been at the Gathering.

Giles' father had been one of the leaders that that had been killed during the explosion. Giles had been surprised at the amount of pain that had caused. He and his father had parted ways long ago. Oddly enough he had still had Rupert listed in his will as his heir to his Council position. Giles though it was very ironic that his father, who had upheld all the traditions that the old Council had stood for, had virtually given him carte blanche to change it completely.

The Council actually worked the way most major criminal organizations or covert operations would. They owned or had stock in thousands of companies that made legitimate money and used them to hide behind and launder money through. The First had not, luckily, gotten around to taking out the main accountants and with Giles' position as the only, still living, listed heir had allowed them access to all the Councils might. It turned out that an organization that had existed since the dawn of civilization could make a lot of money. The Scoobies had been infuriated when they first realized that. The Council had been sitting fat and happy while it's Slayer had been flipping burgers and desperately trying to support her family.

The money had, in some ways made their job much easier, but it had come with its own problems. Giles was the first to admit that he wasn't the most savvy of persons when it came to computers and technology and the vast array of financial information had proven a tangled mess. Willow and Andrew had proved godsends. They had spent over half a year going through, organizing, and figuring exactly how much money they now had access to. It had been a rather exhaustive process involving time, sweat, and copious amount of coffee.

Giles, for his part, had spent the time gathering together Potentials, now Slayers, and setting up place where they could train. The first wave of money released by Willow and Andrew had gone toward purchasing a piece property that had been an old boarding school. It had been somewhat run down and decrepit, but Xander had taken the project and run with it. This had left Giles, Faith and the rest of the Slayers from Sunnydale free to gather up Slayers and new Watchers. Faith had proven a rather adapt leader, though she still swore a little more than he approved of.

Now the school, The Joyce Summers School for Girls they had named it in memory, was up and running, but their troubles hadn't stopped there. There were Slayers all over, over a thousand of them and still counting. They came from all walks of life and just about every country. Giles had to deal not only with the families of these young women but the countries they resided in as well. This was where the old Council had excelled. They had had a vast network of contacts that they had set up over the centuries, people in everything from high ranking government positions to low level criminal organizations. It had been a long, hard task to reacquire those contacts and establish new ones. A task he was still trying to accomplish.

"Are you in here being broody?"

He looked up, startled, as Dawn barged into the room. She was carrying a serving tray in her hands and had a smirk on her face. He smiled. She was a ray of sunshine in a rather stuffy world. He had taken over custody of her from Buffy with some reluctance. He loved Dawn but he hadn't been sure he was cut out to take care of another teenage girl and she had always been a handful.

She had proven him wrong by blossoming here in England. Perhaps it had simply been that she had never had something of her own before. In Sunnydale she was always the one to be protected. Buffy had been rather fanatical about it sometimes, especially after Glory. She had rarely been allowed to patrol and had only been at the final battle because there'd been no choice.

Here in England they had had to rely on her. With so few people to help they had needed everyone they could get. Dawn had had to go to school of course, but the rest of her time had been spent helping rebuild the Council. At first she had run errands and helped Willow and Andrew with their research. Gradually though, she had begun taking over the research department. The great Library that the Council had accumulated over the years had blown up with the Council itself.

It was a huge loss. Books and scrolls thousands of years old. Original copies and books that only had one copy, books in languages that were long dead and now forgotten, all gone, lost to the world and to history. There were some dangerous objects and books that had been destroyed that wouldn't be missed but for the most part it had been a significant blow to the Council. Research had been the one thing that Dawnie excelled at in Sunnydale, however. She picked up languages like nothing and had actually loved the process of figuring things out.

The gathering of books and magickal objects had become her pet project. She had actually become quite ruthless in her quest, raiding bookshops and antique sales, persuading old members of the Council to give up their personal collections. She had become rather feared all over Europe in the past year and a half. She was ruthless in her other pet project as well, keeping watch over Giles.

"Here,"

Dawn placed the tray on his desk, right on top the papers he had been studying. She plopped down gracelessly on the chair across from him and dealt out the things on the tray. She placed a teacup in front of him and poured tea from the teapot into it. Automatically pouring in the exact amount of sugar and cream in it that he liked she placed the teapot back on the tray.

"Nasty old tea leaves for you, delicious caffeinated beverage for me," she smiled as she cracked open the soda with a hiss.

"I had hoped that you would have picked up some culture while over here," Giles sighed and pushed his glasses back up.

"Yeah, like that was gonna work."

"One can always hope."

"I got a letter from Cambridge today." She broke the news suddenly as if she didn't do it now, she never would.

"Oh," Giles pulled his glasses off and polished them furiously, "Well?"

"I got accepted."

"That's wonderful, Dawn," he smiled and stood up to give her a hug.

"It's no big deal," she shrugged shyly and sat back down.

"On the contrary, it's a very big deal. Not everyone is accepted there you know. It's rather hard to get into."

"Well, you know. I'm sure you being my guardian didn't hurt."

"Don't be silly," she was rather shy for such a brash girl. "You got into that school on your own merit."

"Thank you."

"Have you decided what you're going to major in?"

"Yeah," she took a sip of her soda and then looked him in the eye. "I'm planning on double majoring in business and international relations."

"May I ask why? I thought you were planning on going for your doctorate in linguistics or in antiquities, like your mother."

Dawn gave a fond smile at the mention of her mother. "I've thought about this seriously and I think this is the way to go. The truth is Giles, there's nothing in a linguistics program that I can't learn around here. I mean I already know Latin, French, Sumerian, and a little Egyptian, Italian, and Russian. And that doesn't even begin to cover the demon languages that I'll never learn in college."

"The antiquities degree is almost the same. They don't really have a specialization in mystical objects you know. But things like how to deal with businessmen and politicians? That's something we're lacking here. Half the problems we have are having to deal with governments and not letting them control us. We need someone who can deal with that stuff and face it, I'm it right now."

"Dawn…," he hated to see her sacrifice her dreams.

"Now don't get all weird on me Giles, I'm no martyr. I've got my own reasons for doing this and it's not like I'm gonna be alone. Once the first class graduates I'm going to be snapping up some of your Slayers. They have to learn about more than just killing demons. They're going to have to be trained in all kinds of things."

"It's a new day, isn't it?"

"I'm never gonna let one of them turn out like her," Dawn said, her voice flat.

"Dawn…."

"No Giles, it's our responsibility now. We may have had to activated all of them to save the world and it may have been the only choice, but it still makes us responsible for them."

"I know."

"I know you know," she looked at him with eyes that were older than they should have been, "That's why you're up here drowning yourself in paperwork. That's why Xander's out running around trying to build schools and Willow is off on some spiritual retreat to learn how not to blow up the world. It's the same reason we all do what we do and it's the same reason I'm gonna go do what I need to do to make sure they're all taken care of."

"You're a good girl, Dawn," he said after a moment, "I know your sister would be proud of what you're becoming. I certainly am."

"Did you get your postcard?"

Buffy was horrible at writing letters so she had taken to sending postcards at least once a month to her friends and family.

"Yes and Master Shin wrote me as well, she seems to be doing quite well."

"I'm glad," her voice was sad. "I'm glad she's learning to be happy again."

"She'd going to come back, Dawn. It's not like she'd cut off all ties like before, she still writes."

"I know and it's one of the things that keeps me hoping," she smiled at him as she stood up and picked up the serving tray, leaving behind the teapot. "Don't work to late now and remember to come down and eat. If you don't, I'll come up here and drag you down by your ears. Get me?"

"Quite," he smiled back as she walked out of the office, closing the door behind her. Sighing a little he looked back at the piles of paperwork on his desk. Sadly, there was more in the to-be-done pile than the already-done pile. It was going to be a rather long night.

"It's all that keeps me going as well, Dawn," he whispered as he picked up a pen and got back to work.

...

Author's Note:

You're not paranoid if they're really out to get you.

-Anonymous

Okey Dokey Folks! Judging by your responses to the last chapter my paranoia was somewhat unfounded. (That or you're sitting out there, watching. Waiting for the right time to pounce. Ahhhhh!) Thanks for the ego stroking, as always.

Now we are getting into a little bit of what's been going on in the real world. The reality of the fact is that the Scoobies have an almost impossible job on their hands. The thing that made it so easy for the Council before was that they were only dealing with one Slayer and a few Potentials at a time. That, and they had no problem kidnapping said Potentials right out of their homes and indoctrinating them. Therefore I decided to give them a few breaks. The first was the money. I don't care what they paid, or didn't pay the Slayer. An organization that is that old and powerful enough to send in black-ops teams onto foreign soil with no questions asked has a significant amount of cash lying around somewhere. I just gave Giles and the rest a little help in finding it. Money makes the world go round, like it or not, and the poor Scoobies are gonna need all the help they can get.

I also realize that the school idea has been done before, but let's face it. The only way that they can legitimately gather that many young girls together is a school setting.

This chapter is kind of an overview of some of the big problems that the new Council has been facing and how they've been dealing with them. Giles was a field Watcher and now he's having to deal with larger, organizational issues on the fly. Willow and all the rest are also being asked to step into positions that are totally unfamiliar to them, stuff like that. We'll get to some of the smaller, more personal issues later.

Finally, I apologize in advance but starting now and lasting as long as two weeks possibly, the updates are going to be rather sporadic. I've gotten a new job (yeah me!) and I have to move across the country. I now officially curse the oil companies. Stupid high gas prices. I'll try to post when possible but I have to pack up my life and get going. I do plan on finishing this story though (as well as many others) so don't worry to much.

P.S. to the person who mentioned the fact that while my chapters are very well edited you have noticed some problems in my author's notes, you're right. The truth is that while I ruthlessly edit my stories at least three or four times (though I'm not perfect of course) I write these notes rather on the fly. I find it works better that way. Thank you for the notice though. I will try to be more thorough in the future.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: If you haven't figured it out by now I...really don't know how to help you.

...

Chapter 9

_San Fransisco Hotel, The Day Buffy Left_

"I want you to take this."

Faith looked wide-eyed at the item Buffy was holding out to her. It was the Scythe. The weapon made specifically for the Slayer by the Guardians. It had become a powerful symbol in the last days of Sunnydale and now Buffy was giving it to her.

"Shit, B, whattya' givin' it to me for? It's yours," she tried to push it back.

"I told you before, right," she said, referring to the conversation they had had in Sunnydale, "It's ours."

"Aren't you gonna' need it where you're going?" Faith asked uneasily, she was never comfortable around emotional situations.

"To tell you the truth I think it would just get me in trouble," there was actually a small smirk on the blond Slayer's face as looked over the axe-like weapon in her hand. It was rare to see even a tiny smile on her face these days. "I don't really have any control over my Slayer these days and this little baby makes it _way_ to easy to kill things."

"So you want me to hold onto it while you're gone?" Faith was a little confused.

Buffy sighed and looked up at her with tired eyes. "Between you and me, Faith, I don't honestly know how long I'm going to be gone. I want to come back, I really do. Despite our fights and temper tantrums I love my friends and family, but I need to know they can be safe around me. I need to be able to trust myself again and I don't know how long that's going to take. Besides, my time as head Slayer is over."

"What are you talking about, B?" Faith protested, panicking a little. Look what happened the last time she was put in charge. "You can't…"

"You're it now, Faith. You're their leader."

"Bullshit! I can't be anybody's leader, B. I can barely take care of myself! Did you forget what happened last time you left, I got a bunch of people killed! I'm not as good as you are!"

Faith was shaking her head now and backing up, her hands automatically reaching for the cigarettes in her back pocket. She hated admitting that. Only her self-imposed time in prison had made her realize it was true. Nothing she had done had let her catch up with the senior Slayer, no matter how hard she had tried.

"Of course you're not as good as me."

Buffy's bald statement stopped her hands mid-reach. It was one thing to realize it in her head. It was another to have it said out loud by the very person she admired so much.

Then Buffy continued, "You're not supposed to be as good as me. Think about it, Faith," she sat down on the low wall that encircled the parking lot they were in, gesturing for Faith to do the same. "The truth is you can't compare yourself to me slaying-wise, simply because I've had more experience. I'd been slaying for _three years_ by the time you were Chosen, Faith. That's longer than most Slayers are alive. And I'd faced some pretty tough badies, as well. I had a lot more experience. I was supposed to be the better one."

Faith slumped down slightly on the wall, a little stunned. She'd honestly never thought of it that way. She'd come running to Sunnydale and to Buffy because she was scared and when she'd met the other Slayer she'd wanted so badly to be like her. She'd tried as hard as she could, but could never seem to match the ease with which Buffy did her job. It had never occurred to her the distance between them was based simply on time and experience rather than talent.

"The thing that pisses me off now," Buffy seemed a little lost in her own world as she ran a finger along the curved blade of the Scythe, "is that I wasn't experienced enough to help you."

"B, you can't blame yourself for me," she smirked automatically, "I think I was just born bad."

"Don't call yourself that!" Buffy could still see the Faith's past laid out before her, the screaming and the cursing, the insults and pain. She shuddered as the memories washed over her again. It was a wonder Faith had turned out as well as she had. "You needed my help and I was too self-involved to give it to you. We all were."

"Maybe," Faith acknowledged. It felt a little good inside to think that Buffy didn't think she was irredeemable, "But the truth of the matter was, no matter how messed up I was, I was the one that chose continue down the path. I was the one that killed and tortured people, not you. And that's something I'm gonna' have to make for the rest of my life."

"Then start with this," she held out the Scythe again. "Like it or not, you're it for these kids. My time is up. I was supposed to be dead long ago. You were _Chosen_, Faith, never forget that." Something in Buffy's eyes resonated deep within Buffy. For a second there was a connection so deep it was almost scary. Not romantic or lustful or even friendship, but recognition. Like recognizing like, because the reality was that they were the last of their kind. "I don't know exactly what the Powers look for in a Slayer, but you obviously had it. Out of billions of people and thousands of Potentials, _you_ were the one girl in all the world."

_One and A Half Years After the Fall of Sunnydale_

"Oh my god, look who it is?!"

"Is that…is it really?!"

"It has to be…right?!"

"It's her. It's really Faith!"

Faith strode up to the squad of young Slayers, trying to ignore their whispers. If someone had told her when she was younger that she would have a fanclub following she would have laughed her ass off. Who could think of fans when you were to busy trying to escape from your own mother? But here she was, being squealed at by little girls. It was a kinda creepy.

She wondered it this is what Buffy had felt like when the Potentials had first showed up. By the time Faith had arrived to help with the First in Sunnydale Buffy and the Potentials had nearly reached the breaking point, but she imagined in the beginning it had started out like this. She knew all about hero worship. She had looked up to Buffy like these kids looked up to her. Only she had been much cooler about it, she had never squealed girlishly in her entire life! Faith had never imagined the amount of pressure someone must feel, to be the focus of such hopes and expectations. She wasn't perfect by any means.

She hoped these girls would learn one day that she was just a person and not an idol, but she was willing to put up with it for now. They were young, barely 15, and were just now being allowed on a "baby run". Slayers had to go through an intensive month long course before being allowed to patrol and even then they were accompanied by senior Slayers. Their patrols were rigidly scheduled and managed. They didn't want any kids to die because of stupid mistakes. It was such a change from her training as a Slayer. Then it had been like, "toss her into the pool of sharks and see if she can swim to shore".

The first year or so after Sunnydale had been rather hectic. The original core of Slayers from Sunnydale had been quickly split up and sent out with Willow's beacons to find the newly Chosen Slayers and tell them why they were now able to bench press pianos. Then the school had started up and some of them had become teachers and others had become squad leaders all over the world. They had been desperate for manpower. Now that the first batch of graduates had been released however, things were looking up.

Faith herself had been jumping all over the world. In the past two months alone she had set foot on every single continent, including Antarctica. Damn yetis' and their stupid fucking "let's cover the world in ice" plan. It was her job now to run around and put out fires. After the initial retreat, the Dark forces of the world were beginning to test the power of the Slayers. Sure there were a lot more, but they were still young and untrained. The superpower that had been the Council had been severely damaged and though it was recovering fast, faith in its supremacy had been shaken.

So here she was in…where the hell was she now? Somewhere on the eastern coast of the United States anyway, and she was supposed to be taking down something. She didn't really know what. It didn't matter anymore. She just had to kill it.

"What the hell am I killing again?" She smirked at the wince from the team leader of the squad as her voice rasped out. She knew what they saw when they looked at her. A lush body barely covered in tight leather pants and a slinky shirt. She had disdained the body armor that had become all the rage at the Slayer school. Discovered at one of their military development companies, the armor was both light weight and maneuverable. The Slayers had taken to modifying it to their own specific purposes, not to mention tastes. It wasn't uncommon to see it in bright pink. But Faith was old school. She had been slaying in this type of outfit since being Chosen, hell if she was gonna' change now. Besides, if it didn't get to messed up during the kill she could still go party in it afterwards and not have to take the time to change.

"We were patrolling the caverns down below," the team leader rallied herself, "It's a pretty well known place for vamps, but we've patrolled there often enough that it's safe for the kids. We came across something down there that I've never seen before. It was huge."

"It was a dragon!" One of the newbies, a redhead, spoke out loudly. "I told you I saw it real well. It was scaley and it hissed at me!"

"A dragon?" Faith was intrigued. She had never come across a dragon before, not in all her travels. There were stories of them in books of course, but sometimes it was hard to separate fact from fiction.

"Katherine," the team leader, Sara, scolded the girl, "It wasn't a dragon."

"Yes, it was," the girl glared back. It seemed some traits ran true in Slayers. They were all little rebels at heart.

"Why don't I go find out," Faith interrupted the argument before it got out of hand. She slipped the Scythe from its sheath on her back, feeling the familiar _zing_ of power that came every time she held it.

"She's so cool!" Was the last thing she heard as she descended into the dark, shaking her head at the stupidity of teenage girls. It was time to go find out if dragons were real. She fucking loved her job.

...

Author's Note:

Yet another chapter down! Let the accolades begin! Yeahhhh, anyway, onto business.

There you have the reason that Buffy isn't running around with the Scythe in case anyone was wondering. I always felt that Faith got a bit of a bad rap. She just needed to know she was needed like anyone else.

A note to the armor that the Slayers were sporting. Yes, I did get the idea from the comic book. If you want to see it go out and by them, it's really cool. I have to say I agree with Mr. Whedon on the idea that the Slayers would have had to go more high-tech. They're now a world wide organization with thousands of Slayers that they have to organize. They gotta' upgrade a little. And though my story is going to be different from his, it will be similar in that manner.

Also yes, to the question asked by some, I am planning doing some more stories in this universe once I'm done with Buffy's tale. There are other characters' stories to address.

As always, thanks for the reviews and the suggestions and I will see next time. Same buffy time, same buffy channel.

OMAKE:

Buffy- What are we doing, Master Shin?

Master Shin- We're training, Buffy, we're training.

Buffy- looks around- How is this training exactly?

Master Shin- This is honing your mind.

Buffy- We're selling stuff on the side of the road.

Master Shin- looking agitated - The bargaining skills used will hone your ability to think on your feet.

Buffy- looking doubtful

Master Shin- bangs pot on the stand- FINE! You want to know the truth? You're eating me out of house and home! We have to make money so that we can afford to feed you!

Buffy- suddenly animated - Come one! Come all! You won't get a better bargain anywhere!

...

For tazandhooch, who wanted more Buffy. Thanks for the compliment.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 7

Disclaimer: You can tell it's not mine. I'm not running around screaming like an idiot.

Warning: The following chapter deals with disturbing subject matter.

………………..

Chapter 10

_One and a Half Years After the Fall of Sunnydale_

"So you're telling me, Mr. Harris, that my daughter is some kind of demon killing machine?"

Xander sat across from Mr. and Mrs. Sakowski in their living room. Charlie and Mary were your typical American couple. He was an insurance salesman and she sold houses. Xander didn't really know what to say to them. He thought he should have it down now. Some sort of pat speech to tell them that their daughter was a mystically empowered warrior Chosen to fight for Good and that he had had a part in that choosing. He'd done this enough over the past year and a half but he was always at a loss at how to start.

Each Slayer's home situation was different. Some didn't have parents at all. They were the easiest to deal with, no muss, no fuss. Some families took it as a blessing. In a third world country like Ethiopia or Laos, it was a miracle. Their child would be cared for, given a free education and a life outside of poverty. They could even, if they so chose, bring their family out as well once they had finished training. Possible death at a young age was no deterrent. In places like that you faced death daily and it made you rather callous to the fact.

Now that Xander had moved back to the States though, he ran into families that cared about such things more and more often. He should be happy to see loving parents. All too often when he was growing up he could forget they existed. His own parents were nothing to write home about, a drunk and abusive father and an uncaring mother. His best friends' parents hadn't been any better. Jessie's parents thought he was a geek and a loser and doted on his older brother, ignoring him. Willow's family just plain forgot about her sometimes, off on their academic tour of the world.

The only sign of normalcy he'd known during his teenage years were Buffy's mother Joyce, after Buffy had told her the truth, and Giles, Buffy's Watcher. The two had tried to provide some shred of stability in the Scoobies hectic teenage years, Joyce by simply mothering every one of them as much as she could and Giles by providing a stable male figure for them to look up to. The miasma that was Sunnydale had managed to break their little family apart bit by bit, however.

First Joyce's death, made somehow worse by the naturalness of it. If there had been an enemy to fight or blame they might have all felt better. Giles' disappearance back to England after Buffy's death had been the straw that broke the camel's back. Their happy times were over. Even after Buffy's return to life and Giles' subsequent return to Sunnydale things had never been the same for Xander. Anya's death at the final battle had only further ruined his dreams for a family. So he should be happy to see a Slayer being raised in a loving and supporting family. But the truth was it only made things harder and this situation was rather unusual. The Slayer in question was only 7 years old.

Xander took a sip of his coffee and then looked the man in the eyes. He could tell his eye patch discerned the man. He'd gotten used to the reaction. Then he started his story. "I'll try to explain it as best as I can, Mr. Sakowski…"

As he spoke he thought back on the situation. There had been some unusual times in the past year and a half, but nothing had been so disturbing as when the first newly Activated Slayer had died and they'd found out who had replaced her. The truth was they had no idea what was going to happen to the Slayer line when they'd chosen to activate all the Potentials at once. It had been a decision forced upon them and they really hadn't had the time, or truthfully the forethought, to consider the ramifications of their decision. Or, if any of them had, they'd shoved them to the side because of the desperation of the times.

When the girl had died, a victim of a train wreck of all things, Willow had felt the calling of another Slayer being Chosen. It had, at first, been a big relief to them. Her spell had activated all the possible Potentials that were available in the world at that time. There had been two possible scenarios that would play out after that. Either the Slayer line would fade out, the Activated Slayers dieing off and possibly resetting itself to its original parameters in the future, or the pool of Potentials would shift. To where and to what group it would shift, they had no idea.

The original pool that Potentials had been Chosen from had been girls between the ages of 12 and 18. All magick had a price and the spell used to create the Slayers had been particularly powerful. The thing that had been most valuable at the time that the Shadowmen had done the spell had been young girls of breeding age. They were the one thing that would ensure the continuation of the tribe. Willow's spell had been just as powerful, if not more so, and demanded its own price. The pool that Potentials were Chosen from were now girl children between the ages of 7 and 11.

People were living longer now and valued their formative years. Children were prized all over the world and were viewed as precious commodities. Innocence was the price that the spell chose to exact. The Scoobies had been horrified. It was one thing to send a teenager out to fight demons. They, at least, might have a chance. But to send a child was completely abhorrent. The one saving grace in the whole situation was that they weren't activated automatically like the previous Potentials. A Slayer had to die for them to be Chosen.

There were over a thousand Slayers worldwide though and the Scoobies had had to scramble to locate and protect them all, deaths were inevitable. Fewer and fewer Slayers were dying now thanks to the efforts of the newly reformed Council, but they still had a small core of little girls who were now charged with saving world and there would be a lot more in the future. It was something they where all having to learn to live with.

Mr. Sakowski dropped his head into his hands and rubbed his forehead after Xander finished his story. Mrs. Sakowski just looked shell shocked.

"Why should we believe you?" His voice was low and angry, it was a natural reaction.

"That's what I'm here for," Julia, the girl sitting next to Xander on the couch, said. She had been silent up till now, she usually was. A Slayer always accompanied Xander on his recruiting missions, both for proof and for backup. Xander had found she was particularly good at bonding with the families and getting them to trust her.

Calmly she reached into the bag at her feet and pulled out a common tire iron. She handed it over the coffee table to Mr. Sakowski. A little confused, he took it from her.

"Try to bend it."

"I can't bend a tire iron," he told her.

"I know. It's just to make sure we're not faking anything."

He nodded and slowly took the bar between his hands and tried to bend it. He was a rather big man, looked like he had played some football in high school, but he couldn't bend the bar.

"So it's real, so what?" He handed the bar back to Julia.

She proceeded to bend the bar in half before their disbelieving eyes. It was a common, if somewhat overdone trick, but it made a believer out of just about everybody. Besides, tire irons were cheap and you didn't get looked at too oddly for carrying them around.

"Later on tonight we can take you out to find a vampire if you want," Xander offered. Sometimes it took seeing a Slayer in action to convince people.

"You're certain our Samantha is one of these…Slayers?" Mrs. Sakowski spoke up for the first time since Xander had begun his story. She seemed to be coming out of her shock.

"See this," he pulled a small glass ball out of the bag, it was pulsing brightly, "It only gets like this when it's close to a newly Chosen Slayer." All of their eyes went upward, to where little Samantha was sleeping. "We've never been wrong before."

"Is Samantha having trouble sleeping lately, Mary? Has she been having a lot of nightmares?" Julia's voice was soft and kind so as not to startle the woman.

"Well, yes, she has been a little restless lately. I thought it was just growing pains."

"Ask her about it in the morning. Ask her if she'd been dreaming about monsters, if she's been dreaming about being lots of other girls in the past. Part of the Slayer package is prophetic dreams. Some girls get them more often then others, but we all get the past lives thing."

"Jesus," Mr. Sakowski got up and started pacing as his wife sat back on the love seat, her shaking hand at her mouth. "So say this is all true. What do you plan to do about it? What's gonna' happen to our little girl?!"

"She'll be provided for for the rest of her life." This, Xander had a preset speech for. "She'll be put in a class with other girls her age. Her entire education will be paid for by the Council, from start to finish. We encourage our girls to attend college after they finish at the Academy and we have connections at some of the oldest and finest universities in the world. We're a growing organization. She's going to have her pick of assignments and places to go."

"I thought you were training demon killers here?" Mr. Sakowski's voice was doubtful, but at least he was still listening.

"A Slayers job is to maintain the balance," Julia's slid smoothly into the silence, "We have to work in every layer of society to do so. Evil doesn't just roam around in the sewers at night. It can go all the way up to the top echelons of politics and business and so we have to be prepared to go there."

"So she could be a lawyer or even a doctor?" Mrs. Sakowski seemed to want to latch on to normality.

"Of course she could and she'll be helped along every step of the way."

"What happens if we don't send her with you?"

There it was. The one question that every parent asked and the one Xander hated the most. This was where they had to be completely honest because if they weren't, tragedy could strike.

"It'll start out with her getting restless," his voice was dead calm and his one eye seemed to pin the couple in place. "She'll start sneaking out at night and believe me, no matter how you watch her, she'll find a way. When you confront her about it she'll be defensive and moody and she may lash out involuntarily."

"She's strong now," Julia continued the story seamlessly. She was speaking from personal experience now. "She feels it all the way through her and it makes her hyper and she'll want to move all the time. If you pin her down she'll react on instinct and she may hurt somebody. She doesn't know how strong she really is and she can't control it."

"If she doesn't hurt someone and she doesn't get caught, she'll continue sneaking out," Xander picked the tale back up. Some things just shouldn't be brought up again. "She won't know what she's looking for exactly, but eventually she'll find it. If she's lucky it'll just be a baby vamp and maybe she'll slay it, but eventually she's going to run across something out there that's bigger and badder than she is. When that happens, she'll either get beaten up really badly or she'll get killed."

Mr. Sakowski had sat back down by the end of their speech, unable to say anything. It was obscene what they were telling him. His little baby was going to die? He wanted to tell them all to go to get the hell out of his house, but a part of him couldn't do it. What if they were right?

"Is my daughter some kind of monster now?" Mrs. Sakowski's voice was shaking.

"No!" Julia wanted to make this issue perfectly clear. Some Slayers had lost their whole families because of this sort of thing. "A Slayer is a hunter, there's no getting around that, but we aren't monsters. The instincts that Samantha has now are to help her hunt the monsters and make sure they can't hurt innocent people. If properly trained she'll be in control of them, not the other way around."

"Slayers are Champions, Mrs. Sakowski," Xander's voice was firm on this point, "they're heroes. It's our job at the Council to support them in their task as much as we possibly can and trust me, we take our job _very_ seriously."

Charlie and Mary were silent for a moment, staring at each other and communicating in the way that only people who had been together for a long time could. Then they seemed to come to a decision.

"I'm not saying we're firm on anything yet, Mr. Harris," Mr. Sakowski warned in a low voice, "We have a lot more questions for you. Not to mention we have to talk this over with Samantha. But if we were to continue, what would be the next step?"

Xander sighed inaudibly, this had gone better than he had thought it would. He reached into the bag again and pulled out some papers.

"Here's the condensed version. Samantha will have to go off to a month long training session. It's something that all Slayers do at first. You're welcome to come to England, at our expense of course, to tour the school and see what it is we do there. You're lucky actually. Our new school in Cleveland will be finished soon and so she won't be to far away once classes start." He didn't go into the fact that the school was located there because of the Hellmouth, it was just too complicated. They had built it far enough away from the main sight that it wasn't affected by the miasma that Hellmouths released, but the training opportunities were to good to pass up.

"The 'baby groups' as we call them," Julia continued, "Are never let out on their own. They have to go patrol, it's a necessity for any Slayer, but it's in as a controlled environment as we can make it, one senior Slayer for every newbie." They had found that this was a good way to give some of the older slayers who were about to graduate a good taste of what leading squads was like without putting them in a dangerous situation. They were even graded on how well they interacted with their charge.

"Before all that happens though, we need to do some paperwork," Xander pushed the papers across the table toward them. Here came the fun part. "This is a standard non-disclosure agreement. You aren't allowed to tell anyone about this, friends or family. Some of the other family's know and you are welcome to discuss things with them, of course." They'd actually gotten a few potential Watchers from families of Slayers. It had solved a few problems all around.

"I believe Andrew's even started up a secure network you can chat on online," Julia interjected, "Some of the families have become very good friends."

"There's a little bit on the end though, that isn't so standard," he pointed to the last page where a series of runes formed a circle. "That's a binding spell. Now this is important, so pay attention. Once you've signed the contract, should you violate it, we'll know at once. Depending on the size of the infraction we'll be forced to take steps. This could include anything from a memory erasure to any number of legal actions."

They'd actually come up with this after one of the families had tried to go to the press. It was their answer to the problem of the world finding out about their secret. In the past the old Council had simply kidnapped girls away from their families and indoctrinated them. This left the families grieving but completely in the dark about the mystical world. The Scoobies knew they couldn't do that sort of thing. Andrew had actually been the one to come up with the contract solution. He'd been inspired after his run in with Wolfram and Hart.

"We're here to protect humanity," Xander continued, "But to be able to do that we have to remain a secret. We have to be able to maneuver behind the scenes." Charlie and Mary nodded uneasily. They'd just gotten their first glimpse into a world they were going to be pulled inexorably into, it was nerve wracking.

Xander felt he and Julia had been lucky today. Their recruitment had gone fairly well. Samantha was going to go off to the Academy and hopefully grow up to be a successful Slayer who saved a lot of people. This is what he did now. This was his way of taking care of the young women whose lives they'd interrupted. He didn't have superpowers and he was just a man, but now he could help. That's all he'd ever really wanted to do.

He gave them a trademark Xander grin as he finished off his spiel. "Besides, who's gonna' believe you if you told them about all this anyway?"

…………………..

Author's Note:

So here's the deal. This might be a controversial chapter for some of you out there. I was even a little disturbing for me to write. I mean little girls as Slayers? But I kept coming back to one question after the final episode of Buffy. What was going to happen to the Slayer line? They haven't, so far anyway, dealt with it much in the comic book (unless you count Fray which is still a huge ? in my book). Also, they kept saying over and over again in the show that magick has a price and for a spell the size of Willow's I figured the price had to be kinda big. This was the solution I came up with.

I chose Xander as the one to deal with this for several reasons. One, there were a lot of questions surrounding the recruitment of Slayers and how they dealt with families that needed answering. Two, I always thought he was one of the best teachers out of all the Scoobies. Xander always came across as a very approachable guy to me. Finally, I put him in charge of running the schools and dealing with family situations because he always seemed to want to protect everyone and I thought he'd do his utmost to keep all the kids safe.

The length of this chapter was a little bit longer than the others simply because there are so many questions that needed answering. I'd answer one and come up with a dozen more. I think I covered the basics of everything but if you come up with anymore just send them to me. If I can, I'll try to answer them in the future chapters.

You might notice as well that there are times that I capitalize Activated and Chosen. Activated is to refer to those Slayers brought into their powers by Willow's spell. Chosen refers to all Slayers before the spell (Buffy, Faith, etc.) and the new mini-Slayers, because they are Chosen by the PTB's.

I just can't seem to get in the mood to write an omake after that chapter so I'll have to save it for next time. Instead I'll just thank all the readers and reviewers as per usual. I'd also like to make a note to those that added me to their update list or favorite list. Even if you don't review, those notices give me a warm tingly feeling inside. Every little bit helps. Also, a lot of internet cookies to crazy4anime for taking the time to send me those reviews. They always make me smile.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I'm just to tired...whine!

I'M BACK! SO STOP YELLING!

I was going over my story again to make sure it was flowing right and all I kept seeing were typos. GRRRR! So, if anybody wants to take on a slightly insane, horseback riding, fanfiction writer, I desperately need a Beta.

...

_Chapter 11_

_Concentrate_, Willow Rosenburg thought to herself, as she manipulated the energy between her hands. It was a very complicated spell. She was weaving strands of energy back and forth across each other like they were thread in a tapestry. Sweat pored down her forehead as she sent them back and forth, back and forth. The finished product would be a protective shield that would be stronger than any she had ever made before and become a permanent part of her being. Something she could snap into place at a moments notice.

The actual weaving of the power was hard enough, it took complete concentration. She couldn't break her focus for a moment or the strands of power would all go flying away into the ether. The strands squirmed around in her "hands" like they were alive, trying to get away from each other. They had been perfectly happy where they were and hadn't wanted to be "spun" into "thread".

Willow narrowed her eyes as she came to the end of her task. The hardest part of the whole thing was coming up. Now that the shield was completed she had to tie it all up at the ends so that it would stay woven. She was so close to being done. Just a few moments more and she could rest. It would be one step closer to completing her training and going back to…

_Sproing! BOOM!!_ Willow was flung onto her back as the energy escaped from her and eagerly returned to the earth as fast as it could. She blinked a few times, making sure she was still conscious. She had a massive headache and her hands were tingling, but she thought she was still alive. Her shield, however, was caput.

"Well poop."

"Something intruded upon your mind," the voice of her teacher came from out of the dark.

Willow sighed and shoved herself back up into a sitting position, pushing back the pain. Her teacher was somewhat lacking in the sympathy department. She would be expected to get right back to work. Using a tiny trickle of magick she got rid of her headache and shook her hands to get feeling back into them.

"There is still something you have not told me."

"I've told you everything," Willow denied, "Even things I _really _didn't want to."

When she had first come here Willow had had to admit she'd been a little scared. The Coven had sent her here because while they could teach her a lot, they couldn't teach her about all the aspects of her magick. The Coven specialized in white magick. They shunned the dark side of the craft and were always a bit uncomfortable around her.

After so much time in Sunnydale and especially after her time as Destructo Girl she couldn't avoid the dark side anymore. Willow had literally made herself into a magickal sponge. She had absorbed so much magick, good and bad, that it was now a part of her being. She couldn't live without practicing both. And while the Coven was happy enough to teach her about meditation and helping her explore the Light side of her powers they weren't to keen on dealing with the rest of her wiggy self.

So off she'd been sent, to India this time, to learn about the rest of her magick. Of course, Willow couldn't exactly go up to a practitioner of Black magick and be like, "I'm here to learn dark magick from you but I don't want to be evil really and I don't want to hurt anybody." Dark practitioners weren't exactly known for their patience or willingness to share their secrets.

The solution they had come up with was her current teacher. Both Giles and Rheanna, the head of the Coven, had heard of her and even Rheanna had had to admit that while the Coven didn't always approve of her methods, she wasn't exactly evil. Both had agreed that she was _very _good at the Craft, however. She should be, she was over 1,000 years old.

"Tell me about the Slayer."

"Ehhh…which one? There are a lot lately, you know," Willow tried to delay. This was the one subject she'd been hoping to avoid. She'd succeeded so far, but it didn't look like it was going to last. She shouldn't be so surprised. Her teacher was scarily good at ferreting out secrets.

"The one you call Buffy."

"What do you want to know? I've told you how I met her and helped her and…"

"I want to know why your voice changes when you talk about her."

"It does?"

"Do not try to disseminate, Little Water Tree." That was the closest her teacher ever came to calling her by her name. She had told Willow when they first met that her name was translated as Little Tree By The Water in her language and she'd called Willow Little Water Tree ever since.

"I…I'm in love with her," Willow sighed and hung her head. She had learned within the first week that there was absolutely no way to lie to her teacher and thus, no way to lie to herself. She'd known for a long time that she loved Buffy. She just hadn't had the guts to admit it to anyone else.

"Why does this disturb you so?"

"For many reasons," Willow stated, trying to keep her emotions even. It was a very touchy subject. "I feel like I've hurt the people I've had relationships with because I've always loved her and probably always will. But it probably disturbs me most because she'll never return my feelings."

"She has told you this?"

"No. I've never told her about my feelings." Though Willow wouldn't be surprised if Xander knew, she wasn't too worried about Buffy. The blond Slayer tended to be a little dense about matters of the heart.

"Such limitations!" For the first time since coming here Willow heard emotions enter her teacher's voice. Usually her voice was monotone, flat and disturbing. Willow heard the dry rustle of scales against stone as her teacher stirred in irritation.

"Who are you?" Her teacher asked, out of the blue.

"Wha…I'm Willow?"

"Who are you?"

"I'm…a…just Willow Rosenburg, really."

"Who. Are. You?!"

"I don't know what you want me to say! I t...t...told you already. I'm Willow!" Now Willow was getting irritated. Her teacher was all of the sudden asking these weird questions again. She thought they'd gotten beyond this sort of thing already.

"Again you place limitations on yourself."

"I don't know what you mean. Please explain," she gritted her teeth and tried to remain calm. Emotional extremes of any kind were bad for her. Things tended to go kind of explodey.

"Mortals, especially humans, I have found, place limitations on themselves on every level. 'My name is John Smith and I am an accountant,'" Her teacher's voice was actually sarcastic. "As if that could hold the sum of their worth?"

"You do the same thing. You assume your Slayer could not love you even though you have never tried to gain her love. You assume that she would not welcome knowing she holds a special place in your heart. That she would hate you because of it. You even assume you cannot love more than one person at a time."

"But you can't be…," Willow tried to protest.

"Why?"

"Huh?"

"We will address the first issue. Why do you assume you cannot love more than one person at the same time?"

"Because it's just _wrong_!"

"Why?"

"B…because everybody says so," Willow waved her hands in the air, getting frustrated. "There's a reason you can only marry one person, you know?"

"Ahhh," her teacher's voice sighed out across the cavern, "Now we get to the crux of the matter. Humans rely so much on what other's say to form their opinions. There is the ever mysterious 'everybody' that tells them what they can and cannot do."

"I have lived for over a thousand years, Little Water Tree," she actually sounded her age now, "I can tell you now that this 'everybody' changes their mind on a regular basis depending on what period in history and what region of the Earth you look at. There have been many cultures where marrying more than one person is both accepted and even required. Your own is now examining the definitions of marriage quite vigorously I believe."

"Yeah, they are," Willow had to agree with that one. "But…"

"Limitations, Little Water Tree," her teacher interrupted. "Each person must ultimately do what feels right to them, but do not let yourself feel guilty for feeling love. It comes in many forms and is one of the things that makes life worth living. Obviously your love for this Slayer is a powerful one but it does not mean that you cannot love another. The love is simply different, not less."

For some reason this took a great weight off of Willow's shoulders. Doubtless if anyone else had told her the same thing she would have simply nodded and continued on feeling guilty but her teacher always spoke the truth. The naga did not believe in lies, they thought them foolish. Besides, it was one thing for your friend to point something out and another thing entirely for a decades old magickal being to do it.

"You limit yourself in your magick as well."

"Huh...W...What do you mean?" Willow was dragged off the track of contemplating her love life, or lack thereof.

"Your insistence in the belief that there is good and evil magick is the main issue. But this is not a surprise. Many mortals hold this foolish thought."

"Have you ever _been_ to a Hellmouth?!" Willow was incredulous, "Trust me, I sucked up enough magick there to know it was evil."

"I have been in the tunnels beneath many Hellmouths in my time. I even guarded the treasure you call the Scythe for a period of 103 years."

"Really?" Willow tilted her head, confused and a little intrigued.

"Yes," the voice of her teacher was back to being dry and informative, "And you confuse my meaning. Magick can indeed be corrupted, there is no doubt of that. Many an evil man or demon has used it for nefarious purposes and it is tainted thereafter unless cleansed."

"The rituals themselves that mortals use are not in and of themselves magick, they are simply away to channel it. Magickal power in its rawest form is drawn from the Earth and the Universe itself and is very hard to control. Very few mortals have ever been able to do so. You, Little Water Tree, are now one of them."

"When you opened yourself up to the magick before you lost the veil that separates you from it. The spells and rituals that the Coven have taught you are worthless because you are never separate from the magick and do not require them. What we must teach you now are two things, how to control the flow so that it does not overwhelm you and how to cleanse the corrupted energy that enters you."

"I can do that?" Willow was excited. The Coven had been so frustrated with her when she couldn't block out the dark, or corrupted, magick. It was a basic skill that they taught all of their witches. Now she knew why she hadn't been able to do it and why Sunnydale had been so hard to live in.

"Indeed, but first you must work on your concentration," her teacher settled back into the dark with a rattle of scales. "Begin again on your shield. You must focus only upon that. Do not try to force this Buffy from your mind, but rather accept the fact that there is nothing you can do about it now but love her. We will begin with the cleansing training once you have mastered this skill."

Nodding, her mind set, Willow focused on pulling power from the earth and "spinning" it as she had been taught.

"Good," Willow didn't here her teacher begin to speak as she was so entranced with what she was doing, "It is a good beginning. But something is still missing. She is too tangled amongst the Slayer Line to see her whole self. There is something that must be completed…"

…………………….

Author's Note:

Thank you all so much for waiting patiently (and not so patiently) for this update. While my new job is very cool, I get to ride horses all day, it doesn't leave much free time. So the updates will be a bit more spread out from now on. SORRY! Don't panic though, they _will_ still be coming.

For this chapter we finally get to see Willow again. I didn't focus too much on her feeling or history because we will be getting to that later. I chose to deal with her magick and how she's learning to deal with it. She never did quite get the hang of it even toward the end, she never had time to. I thought about sending her off to the Coven again but then I figured she wasn't really a traditional witch anymore and so she would need somebody pretty special to teach her.

Her teacher and no, she doesn't have a name, is a nagini or a nagi. That is the female form of naga. They are snake-like beings found in Hinduism or Buddhism. Tales of them are found all over India and even into Korea and mainland China. They are traditionally thought of as having the lower or whole body of a snake and the upper body or head of a human. They are immortal and usually associated with subterranean areas, water, and guarding treasure.

Also, I'm not advocating polygamy or whatever here and I'm not knocking it either. I just think people get to locked into ideas about "what's right". If you look at all the different cultures that have and do exist they all have them. They even need them to function. But one of things that disturbs me most is when people are absolutely sure they're right about something. Inevitably I think the Universe will prove them wrong. If only just to laugh at them when they fall on their faces.

Next chapter, the beginnings of an actual plot. OMFG!

OMAKE:

Buffy- Master Shin?

Master Shin- huffing out of temple- What?

Buffy- I was just going to say goodbye. I'm leaving today.-suspicious- What are you hiding back there?

Master Shin- guilty- Nothing!

Buffy- You're lying, I can hear your heart rate going up.

Master Shin- Uhhhhh.

Buffy- notices thing in hand- Is that a remote? Did you have a t.v. in there the entire time?!

Master Shin- throws remote away and herds Buffy out the gate- Of course not. I would never hide something like that from you. It's been nice to know you. Have a nice life. Passions is on. Bye! –slams door in her face

(a nod to Spike)

The usual shout out to all the reviewers and readers. I noted the upswing in the favorite story and story alerts, very cool. Also, to General Mac, sweeeeeet!


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: NOT MINE!!

……………………_._

_Chapter 12_

"What are we waiting for, brother?" The tall skinny man asked the short mustached one. He was always nervously twitching, tugging at his hair and biting his fingernails, never still. "Why do we simply not attack them? We are letting them get strong again. We should have taken care of them when they were weak and scattered!"

The mustached man was the complete opposite of his brother. His manner was calm and considerate, if slightly irritated at the other man's words. They were seated at an old, scarred oak table in the middle of rich, satin lined room. The heads of various stuffed dead animals were mounted on the walls. But most startling of all were the human heads that were hanging among them, staring glassy-eyed at each other.

"Titus, I don't want to have to explain this to you again, so pay attention. We didn't attack them because we were just as weak as they were. The First messed things up for everyone, even those who were supposed to be on its side. We _had_ a nice little operation going. We were quietly building up power to take out the Slayer Line at the Last Battle and then _it_ came in with its stupid Bringers and armies of Turok-Hans and stirred up a damn hornet nest."

"We've been growing in strength though," the twitchy man, Titus, protested, "We could have destroyed their Academies any number of times during construction but now that that stupid witch of there's has put up those wards we can't get anywhere near them."

"We don't need to get near the Academies, brother," the mustached man replied, "I'll admit that the witch is a serious deterrent, but even she cannot be everywhere at once. She's not omnipotent. The trick to getting to the Slayers is the fact that they have to come _out_ of the Academies to be able to do any good. That's when they're most vulnerable."

"So it's time to initiate the plan, Zeak?"

"Yes," the mustached man, Zeak, nodded thoughtfully, "I'd say the timing is just about right. I was interested to know how they were going to respond to the situation, all of the Potentials being activated, but I think I can predict their actions fairly well from now on."

"What about that one Slayer, the one that guarded Sunnydale for so long?"

"Buffy Summers?" Zeak shook his head, "Nobody's heard from her for over 5 years, underground or aboveground. There have been a few rumors but given her reputation as the longest lived Slayer before Sunnydale collapsed that's not to be unexpected. No, I imagine she died when Sunnydale went down and the new Council just tried to use her name as a rallying point."

"Still, it is a point to consider. I'll spread the word to keep an eye out for her and contain her should she emerge from the shadows at the last minute to try and save her precious Council, but I think the Powers That Be just used her up and threw her away like they usually do."

"What do you mean, brother?"

"Use your brain for once, Titus," he tapped his forefinger against his temple, "Those Potentials didn't get activated by accident. The Powers have been setting up this situation for a good long time. I'm just amazed that they could do it not only right under the noses of our bosses but actually use the First to complete it."

Titus paced a little, pulling at his lower lip.

"I still don't get it, brother."

"They used her, Titus, and her friends too" Zeak puffed out a breath, trying to get through to his brother, "I imagine they hid her from the Council on purpose, to keep her from being brainwashed by them. In comes this rebellious Slayer who can back up her bark with a pretty big bite. She shakes things up. The Council doesn't like this so she separates her self from them and thus, any outside support. The Powers saw that she had the potential to be crazy enough to enact the one spell that change up the game, to do what no one else would be willing to try. And then they made her desperate enough to do it."

"They pushed the girl and her little witch friend, testing them constantly I imagine. A little poke here and little prod there, just to see how they would react. They had to make sure they were tough enough to live long enough to enact the plan. Then they arranged the circumstances so that they could violate the rules just enough to bring the First through but not enough to come over into the real world entirely. They had to push them into a corner so she and the witch would see no other way but to do the spell. It probably took thousands of years to get the situation just right and the right players in place but when your immortal time doesn't really matter. I'm quite impressed actually."

"So this was all planned?" Titus asked dubiously.

"Of course it was, you idiot," Titus growled, "The Powers had to make a big move. Wolfram and Hart were becoming too big and to entrenched to deal with with the usual methods, not to mention all the other seeds the bosses have sown in the human world. Times are changing, a lone warrior against the dark won't work anymore. The Powers had to make a power play and this was it. Now they've got a friggin' army of Slayers."

"But we're gonna destroy 'em all, right brother," the twitchy man actually ginned, rubbing his hands together.

"Don't be stupid, Titus, we can't destroy them all right now."

"Then why…?"

"The Slayers are Champions for Light. We can't destroy them all until the Last Battle and that's not going to happen for a long time yet."

"But…"

"Hush," Zeak made a threatening motion, causing Titus to flinch back automatically, "I told you before, remember. Our bosses don't deal with time the way we do, they're immortal. The Powers have tipped the Balance in their favor with this last move. It's our job to tip it to ours. That's what the plan is for." He grinned maliciously, "But don't worry. You'll get to have your fun. By the time we're through with them the Council will be crushed and the Slayers will just be a bunch of scared little girls that have a few extra powers than most."

"I'll get started collecting the girls then, brother," the nervous man went to walk out of the room.

"You should at least wait until the sun sets, Titus," Zeak sighed and put his head in his hand, "You won't be getting _any_ girls if your dust."

"Oh yeah, sorry Zeak."

"I swear, if mama hadn't made me promise to look out for you…"

…

_Approximately Five Years After the Fall of Sunnydale_

Helena Mitchell decided there were only two things she was very sure of in this world right now, she hated her first name and she was _very_ scared. She wasn't really sure where she was or what had happened to her. One minute she had been outside playing and the next she'd felt a small pinch in her neck and then everything had gone black. Now she was finally awake but still feeling kind of woozy and she was in a small steel room, attached to the wall.

Helena had to admit she'd freaked a little when she'd first seen her hands and feet. They were literally melded inside the wall. She imagined it was some kind of spell. They'd been going over the basic types of spells at Slayer school. Helena had been seven when she'd been Chosen and had immediately decided it was the coolest thing ever. In the year since then she'd learned that there were some bad things that came with it, she didn't really like the nightmares, but overall it was still pretty neat.

She had immediately started yanking when she'd seen her hands but all it had gotten her was a really sore arm. At school they had tested each girl on how much they could lift and how fast they could run to give them some idea of what they could do and what their limits were. Helena had managed to break a chain in half once and she was pretty sure that if she was in regular handcuffs or manacles she'd have been free by now. But whoever had put her in here was pretty smart. If she was going to break anything to get out of there it was going to be her own limbs.

So she was sitting here, in a dimly lit, rather smelly room, with her hands and feet merged with a wall. She'd been frantically going through everything that they'd told her about escaping at school but she hadn't really come up with anything yet. The only thing she could think of to do was wait until they released her and then try and run but she had a sinking feeling that if they were smart enough not to put her in regular chains they would know what she was really capable of and be prepared.

Helena's only hope was that someone from the Academy would rescue her. It was a real hope. She'd seen some of the stuff the senior Slayers had taken down, not to mention what Willow, their head magick instructor could do. Her only real concern was them being able to find her. She was sure her parents would have immediately called the Academy. She'd only been visiting for the weekend but they had the emergency number on the fridge. Helena didn't know how long she'd been unconscious, however, and so she had no clue if she was still in the same city, much less the same country.

Helena was actually beginning to nod off a little bit later, there were no windows so she had no sense of time, when the door swung open. The hinges made a squealing sound that just about drove her up the wall, she hated high-pitched noises even more since she'd been Chosen, and two men walked in. Both were of Asian descent, squat and a little on the bulky side, like the sumo wrestlers she'd seen on TV once. They muttered to each other for a few minutes in some weird language she didn't recognize and then pulled out a small pistol.

She tensed for a moment and then recognized the tranq gun from one of her weapons classes. They'd been going over how to take down werewolves without getting bitten. At least they weren't going to kill her but she didn't relish being knocked out again. She decided to work the cute and helpless angle.

"Please, mister," she whimpered in a soft voice, widening her eyes a little, "I don't feel so good. I think I'm gonna puke. Can you just let me get to a bathroom?"

Unfortunately cute and helpless didn't seem to affect them. They just glared at her and went back to muttering at each other. _Stupid goons_, she thought to herself, _you're never this smart in the movies_. A slight cough next to her ear made her whip her head around and stare in shock. From seemingly out of nowhere a dark-haired woman had appeared next to her. She was fairly small, her light brown hair trailing along her back in a single braid, and had blue eyes. She was crouched down, the long baggy pants puddling slightly on the floor around her slippered feet and her loose sleeved long shirt bunched up around her elbows.

She was sitting there, calm as could be, staring at Helena as she gazed back wide-eyed. The men had yet to notice her, being so engaged in their conversation that looked to be turning into an argument. Helena wondered if she was a witch sent by the Council to rescue her and began to feel a little bit of hope.

"You want some help?" The woman asked politely.

"Yes please," Helena tried to sound calm and cool, like she thought a Slayer should sound in a situation like this and not like the scared little eight year old girl that she was.

"Okay," then the woman stretched out her right hand and pushed it into the metal like it was butter. She reached in and pulled out Helena's hands and feet, prying them from the wall with no trouble at all. Helena just sat there, slack-jawed. She'd never seen anyone do something like that. Even the senior Slayers would likely have had to punch into the metal to break it, not just push.

"You better get up now," the woman said and stood up, dusting off her hands. Helena got up shakily beside her and turned to face the men who, by now, had noticed that there was someone else there. They stood there, shocked for a moment, trying to figure out what was going on and how the woman had gotten into the room without them noticing. Then they realized Helena was free and began to raise the gun and move forward.

"You'd better do something," was all the woman said as she stood there, arms crossed.

"But…aren't you here to rescue me?" Helena was seriously confused now.

"I got your arms and legs free," she was told, "The rest is up to you."

"B..but…?!" she yelped as she was shoved out of the way, angry for a moment and then realizing the men had fired the dart gun.

"You're a Slayer, Helena Mitchell," the woman stood above her, arms crossed and hips cocked, looking down. "_They_ should be the ones that need saving."

"But their human," she quickly got to the crux of the problem, "I'm not supposed to hurt humans!"

"You're not supposed to _kill_ humans," her sort-of rescuers clarified, "You can certainly hurt them a little if their holding you hostage."

"Oh," Helena nodded in understanding.

"Just be careful to control your strength, you have a tendency to get a little rambunctious."

Helena nodded, wondering how the woman knew, and then shrugged it off as unimportant. Maybe the people at the Academy had told her. She shot forward, eager to get a little revenge for being held by that stupid wall for so long, not to mention the whole kidnapping thing. Her parents were probably worried sick.

Sliding like a runner into home plate Helena swept under the startled man's hand that was holding the outstretched gun. A loud grunt of pain emerged from him as she rammed into his shin, driving him onto his back and making him loose hold of the weapon. She flipped up to her feet and then incapacitated him with a quick kick between the legs.

Using her shorter height to her advantage she then dodged under the other man's grasp, rabbit punched him in the gut and kneed him in the chin when he bent over in reflexive pain. This sent him flopping to the ground, his jaw probably cracked if not completely broken. She'd gotten a little excited there.

Giving a small whoop of joy she bounced around on her feet like a boxer and turned to the woman who was waiting in the corner. The woman nodded in acknowledgement and Helena felt like she'd grown ten feet. Her red pigtails swayed as she punched a fist into the air.

"Now we still have to get out of the building," her rescuer advised, making Helena calm down and consider the situation. There was still some serious work to be done. But it had still been fun to kick a little ass.

…

_Two Days Later, Amanda Sears School for Girls, Shanghai, China_

Cho An and Robin Woods were sitting in their brand new office in their brand new building going over some paperwork when a knock came at the door. Robin had officially taken charge as Principal and Cho An was now the Head Slayer at the Academy and they were reviewing all the new girls they were about to get in. The knock startled them a bit as they were focused.

"Come in," Cho An called. Her English had come a long way since her time in Sunnydale with Giles having to make her weird pictures to get her to understand. She still didn't think she'd ever completely understand that man and his explanations. She still had nightmares about them sometimes. Most of the girls here spoke english so far as they'd come over from the schools in England or Cleveland, but a lot of the new ones would not have those skills.

Pei entered and walked over quietly to them, "We have some unusual guests at the gate, Cho An, Principal Woods."

"What do you mean?" Robin asked. He was still learning the hodgepodge of Mandarin, Cantonese, and English that the girls tended to use amongst each other.

"The little girl says she's a student at the Cleveland Academy," Pei said, then scrunched her eyebrows together, "She says she was taken from her home and brought here and that the woman with her saved her."

They both sat up straighter at this information. This was a serious matter if it was true.

"Contact the Cleveland Academy," Robin instructed, "see what they say. Our phone lines have been up and down still lately. Their fax alert might have gotten lost. Likely if they lost her their still looking locally, they'd never think to look out so far as us."

"What about the woman with her?" Cho An asked, "What does she say?"

"That's the weird part," Pei admitted, "She asked to see you two in private and refused to give her name until she did."

Robin and Cho An looked at each other, then nodded. They were both curious and the likelihood of the woman being able to do anything in a compound full of Slayers was unlikely. Willow had jut finished putting the wards on the grounds, no magick of ill-intent could be used on the people within.

"Bring her to us," Robin told Pei, "Take the girl to the infirmary and get her checked over in the meantime."

Pei nodded and slipped out the door, closing it behind her. A few moments later she knocked again and the door opened. A young woman with long dark hair, drawn back in a braid, walked in quietly.

"Hello Robin," she nodded to them as Pei closed the door behind her, "Cho An. How are you two doing?"

There was a pause of incomprehension and then Cho An blurted out the only thing that came into her head as the realization of who she was facing fell into place.

"I though you were dead!"

…………………………

Author's Note:

So I got a few responses that were surprised about the pairing. I told you I was gonna whack you upside the head with it later. Well later is now. If you still don't get it just wait a bit, I'll run you over with a truck.

There's actually a little action in this chapter for all you people waiting for it. Also, a small note. I made the baby Slayers a bit weaker than their teenage counterparts. Their still superpowered but I figured that just like regular people, they would get stronger as they matured.

Pretty favorable responses otherwise. Hopefully now we can really get the ball rolling. I'll try to be quick with my next update and you guys keep up the reviews. Happy Days!!


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: Officer! Officer! It's not mine, it belongs to a friend!

...

_Chapter 13_

_"I thought you were dead?!"_

"If I had a nickel for every time I had that line said to me…," Buffy trailed off and grinned at the dumbstruck expressions on the faces of Cho An and Robin Woods.

She wasn't too surprised. The Scoobies tended to be a tight-knit, insular group by nature. The Sunnydale Potentials had seen Buffy leave the hotel in San Fransisco but they hadn't really been interested in why. She hadn't sent postcards to anyone but Giles, Dawn, Willow, Xander, and one or two random ones to Faith, and they wouldn't talk about that with anyone but themselves. She had had little to no contact with the outside world and absolutely no contact with the new Council. So rumors of her being dead were to be expected.

"Where have you been, Buffy?" Robin was the kind of guy to get straight to the point. His expression was already under control and his question was calm but curious. His and Faith's relationship had never gotten off the ground after Sunnydale. Though they were still good friends, they were simply too different. He had been looking for some kind of permanence and she, at the time, had had itchy feet. He was quite happy now with his position as Principal of the new school.

"I was actually living outside of Hong Kong for a while," Buffy replied in perfect Mandarin much to the surprise of Cho An, "I've been traveling around for a bit lately. I came across Helena being held captive though and decided I should probably return her to you guys. I also have a favor to ask."

"Of course," Cho An found herself immediately falling into a subservient role. She didn't have to, of course. Buffy held no official ranking within the Council, she wasn't even a technical member. She should just be considered another Slayer. But Buffy Summers had never been just another Slayer.

Cho An had never had the problems that the other girls had had with Buffy. For her, the time in Sunnydale had been spent in a haze of confusion and fear. She hadn't even learned the whole story of what had happened there until weeks afterward when she had found someone to translate the story for her. She now knew that the other girls and even the Scoobies had rejected the girl and kicked her out of her home but back then she hadn't known what was going on.

What Cho An did remember though was the sight of Buffy going toe to toe with that first Turok-Han. Cho An knew she was tough now, five years as a Slayer had proved it to her. But she didn't know if she would have been tough enough to last eight years on a Hellmouth with no other Slayers to call on. Cho An and all the other girls received a salary and a place to stay, they were supported in everything they did. She now looked back on the time in Sunnydale in a different light, remembering all of them being stuffed into the Summer's home and Buffy coming home late at night, exhausted from work, and then having to go out and patrol.

She also remembered the last speech Buffy had given before going down into the Hellmouth. She hadn't been able to understand all of it, only pick out a few words, but it hadn't seemed to matter. Buffy had always just had a presence about her and after those few words all of the Potentials, Cho An included, had gotten up and followed her into Hell, literally. And they had won.

So know she didn't even think twice about helping the other Slayer out, it seemed natural. Whatever Buffy needed, Cho An would try her best to do it, if only in thanks for keeping her alive those five years ago.

"I need you to get me a job."

"Eh?"

"I need you to set it up so that I can get a job at the Cleveland Academy."

"Why do you need us to do it?" Cho An was very confused. She wasn't quite sure what she had expected to hear come out of the older Slayer's mouth but this certainly wasn't it.

"You just have to go over there and I'm sure they'll help you out. Willow is Principal there and Rhona is Head Slayer, plus Faith and her team are based there for now. They all know you."

"That's the problem," Buffy explained, smiling slightly. Cho An didn't think she'd ever seen the girl smile before, she had been much more angry and stressed in Sunnydale. Then again, there wasn't much _to_ smile about in Sunnydale. But her smile made her seem much more approachable, as if she were letting the two in on a secret.

"I don't want to be known," she continued, "I need you to set me up with a fake identity and background. Like I was an old Council trained Potential that didn't make it to Sunnydale and you guys found me out here, or something," she waved her hand in the air to explain away the details. "I also need you to quietly alert Willow and the rest that know me out there that I'm coming and that they have to pretend that they don't know me."

"May we ask why, Buffy?" Robin seemed a little confused, but willing to listen.

"Something's going on," her voice was suddenly grim and the smile dropped from her face, "Things are moving out there and I need to figure out who they are and what they want, but to do that I need to be able to move about freely. If I come back out into the open now it might scare them into hiding and I don't want that. I'd rather root them out right now."

"What do you mean? Who's moving?" Robin and Cho An were suddenly more concerned. If this was a global move they needed as much information as possible.

"I don't know who they are yet," Buffy shook her head, "that's why I need more information. But I can tell you this, Helena wasn't the only newly Chosen girl kidnapped lately. I saved one more in Mongolia last week. She hadn't been picked up by the Council yet, so I gave her family the information on where to go."

"Keep an eye on your young ones," she told them, "and get out to the newly Chosen as soon as Willow gives you their locations. Whoever they are, they know our vulnerabilities, so stay alert."

"We'll start switching up our patrol routes and randomizing our training schedules," Cho An agreed, "Do you want us to start beating on some doors?"

"No," Buffy shook her head, "I want to keep all inquiries very discreet. Let them think their getting away with it."

"A trap," Robin stated, getting it.

"Pretty much," Buffy agreed, "But first we need to figure out who they are and stuff and I'm the best person to do that right now. They probably think I'm dead, just like you guys did."

"Yeah," Robin drawled, "sorry about the whole dead thing…again. The gang hasn't exactly been forthcoming on information about you. Everytime anyone asks they just get this vague look on their faces and Xander just gets angry. After so long it was just assumed…"

"No," Buffy smiled again, "I actually don't have a problem with it. I needed some time to figure things out. And now, my being assumed dead is going to help us catch some bad guys, so it's all cool."

"What did you figure out?" Robin, ever the Principal, asked.

"That there's still a lot more for me to do," she said cryptically, "and that I don't have to do it alone."

….

_Cleveland Airport, One Week Later_

Buffy was reminded of that moment when she'd been bounced around like a pinball in the airport in Hong Kong. The Cleveland Airport was a lot different. Americans were so much more conscious of their personal space than Chinese people, she'd found. Here, she was carefully avoided as people rushed on their way to make their planes. It could also have to do with her appearance. It was so different from theirs. There was a time in her life Buffy would have never have considered going into public like this. Now she didn't think twice, her clothes were really comfortable.

Her jeans and other stuff had long ago worn out and she'd taken to wearing the loose cloth pants and wrap shirts that Master Shin had worn. Her hair she'd let grow pretty long, all the way to her waist, and it was pulled back in its usual French braid. Its blond highlighting had faded and left her with her natural mid to light brown. While it hadn't gotten a second look in China, except the brown hair and white skin, in America it was a bit different. I really need to go shopping, she thought, then laughed at herself a bit. I guess you can take the out of California, but not the California out of the girl. Shaking her head at her silliness, she walked outside to grab a cab.

"Where to, Miss?" At least he speaks English, she grinned.

"The Jenny Calender School for Girls," she answered and gave him the address, settling back in her seat. Just like the Academy in China that Cho An and Robin had run, all of the Slayer schools had ended up being named for people they had lost. The one in England was dedicated to her mother, the one in Africa to Anya, and the one in Rio, to Tara. Buffy thought it a fitting memorial to their lives. Life and hope out of death, it made sense to her. Smiling a little, she gazed out the window and watched the scenery pass by. It was sure to be an interesting day.

"We're here, ma'am," the driver told her an hour later and she go her first look at the place her friends had built. It was a large boarding school, placed in one of Cleveland's older suburbs. The grounds were big enough to be separate from everything and give the place privacy, but not to big. A large brick wall encased the area and Buffy could see the video cameras placed strategically about. They had pulled up to the wrought iron gate and there was a key plate next to her window. She approved of all the added security.

Thanking the driver and tipping him, she had gotten some money from Robin before leaving Shanghai, she grabbed her small bag and stood next to the gate. As the cab drove away she pushed the button on the keypad and heard a beeping sound.

"Can I help you?" Came a professionally smooth voice from the intercom.

"Hello, my name is Anne Montgomery," she spoke at the box, "I'm here from Shanghai to take up the teaching position. Cho An and Mr. Woods were supposed to tell you I was coming."

"Oh yes," there was a harsh buzzing sound and a click as the gate opened, "Please come up to the main building Ms. Montgomery, someone will meet you there."

"Thank you," Buffy pushed open the gate and stepped onto the grounds of the Academy. She couldn't help but feel a bit apprehensive. After five years of not seeing any of her friends, she was finally back among them.

...

Author's Note:

To all those people out there who don't like my cliffhanger's, here's another. Hah! There's a reason for cliffhangers. Their supposed to keep you coming back for more (that's why I like them!).

One thing I should deal with. I loved Cho An's character. I don't think she got enough screen time in the show, she seemed really cool to me. So I threw her in here, but I have to admit I don't remember where exactly she came in in the plotline. I tried to go back and find out but all my stuff is still scattered from the move and I can't find my dvd's. They're buried in a box somewhere. So even if she didn't, I'm going to pretend she was there for Buffy's fight with the first Turok-Han and all that stuff. I also don't remember if she spoke Cantonese or Mandarin or something else. If you're some kind of purist, you'll just have to deal. It's call fan_fiction_ for a reason.

Also, all I can say is driving for 12-14 hours for three days gives you a lot of time to plot. You guys are lucky, I have this whole story thought through, multiple times. All I've gotta do is write it out. I also had time to plot out 2 more long stories and multiple short ones, as well as figure out a solution to America's economic problems. Of course, it does involve firing most of the politicians, we've gotta keep a few around for paperwork, and funneling their 6 figure salaries into the General Fund. So somehow I don't see it getting past Congress. For anyone out there who has writer's block, I recommend a road trip across highway 40. There's not much to look at. You have to do something creative to make sure you don't fall asleep.

Omake next update!


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: Happy owner and original author, pouting fanfiction author. See the difference?!

Okay people, stop beating down the door. Here it is!

...

_Chapter 14_

"Miss Willow, are you okay?"

"W…What?!" Willow stuttered and then yelped as the papers she was frantically searching through suddenly sprung from her hand and fluttered through the air like maddened birds. "I…I…I…"

"Are you okay?' Patricia, one of her senior students looked at her with a concerned face and asked the question a second time. "I don't think I've ever seen you this nervous before."

"Nervous?" Willow laughed guiltily, "I'm not nervous."

"Okay…distracted?"

"I've just got a few things on my mind, Patricia," she tried to reassure the girl, "Don't worry about it."

_Yeah_, she snorted to herself, _like that was convincing_. _You are bad at lying and you know it!_ It was true. She tended to get all twitchy and laugh uncontrollably when she tried to lie to anyone, it was horrible. You would think that a half a lifetime of having to sneak around and cover up stuff about vampires and demons would give her the skills to convince one 17 year old that she wasn't as nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs, but it just wasn't so.

Of course, she did have a legitimate reason to be nervous. Her best friend, the girl she'd been secretly in love with for so long, was coming back today after a five year hiatus out to God-Knows-Where. She had no real idea what she was going to do about it either. Oh, she'd had all these plans about confessing to Buffy as soon as she returned and being all strong, but now that it was actually down to the wire she was shaking in her boots. So much for inner peace and contemplation, Buffy Summers just seemed to throw her calm to the wayside.

…

Buffy looked around the reception area of the Academy with a curious air. She was waiting for her guide to come and meet her. The receptionist, a tidy young woman Buffy knew to be a Slayer, sat watching her curiously. Selena was curious about their new arrival. The woman she knew as Anne Montgomery seemed nothing like the exceptional Slayer that Cho An and Principal Woods claimed her to be. She seemed like a normal person.

Selene had been expecting someone maybe like Faith, brash and in your face. This woman sat politely on her chair, seemingly not paying attention to anything. She had no air of danger or contained power around her like so many other Slayers, just calm. Selene was feeling a bit dubious about the China Academy's claims. This woman looked a little on the dim side.

"Ms. Montgomery," Selene sat up as Rhona, the head Slayer walked into the room through the side door. "I'm Rhona, the Head Slayer here at the Cleveland Academy. If you'll come with me? I really don't have time to show you around today, because of classes, but Principal Rosenburg has volunteered."

"It's very nice to meet you, Rhona," the dark haired woman bent down and picked up her backpack, her braid slipping over her shoulder, "You can call me Anne."

Rhona nodded politely and turned to go, leaving Anne to follow as Selene followed the two out with her eyes. As she passed Anne deliberately turned to her and winked, causing her to jerk back slightly in surprise. It was like the other woman had known exactly what she was thinking about her the entire time. _Maybe there's a little more to her than I thought,_ she muttered to herself shakily as she got back to her work. No one had surprised her like that in a while.

…

"Sorry about that, B…Anne," Rhona murmured shakily to Buffy as they walked through the halls, "I'm not the best actress in the world so I tried to get out of there fast."

"It's okay," Buffy grinned back, "It's a little weird for me, too."

"We just got the call from Cho An about two days ago and I gotta tell you, it shocked the hell out of me," Rhona had always been straightforward. "I thought you were, you know…dead."

"It happens," Buffy just brushed it off. _Really,_ she thought to herself,_ I should be used to it know, it happens so often._

"Well I figured you would want Willow to show you around so you guys could catch up and stuff," she swung her head, her dreadlocks bouncing, to watch the older Slayer out of the corner of her eye. Judging to make sure that was okay with Buffy.

Willow had tried to look calm the other day when she'd broke the news that Buffy was alive and coming back to Cleveland soon but Rhona had thought she'd looked a little like a panicked horse. She remembered Buffy leaving the hotel, but she had no real idea what the relationship between Buffy and the Scoobies was like anymore. She hadn't even really known what it was like back in Sunnydale, but even she had recognized the strain everyone was under back then.

Breathing a sigh of relief as she reached the door of the classroom Willow was finishing up a class in, she knocked and then entered. The whole class, it was a senior spells class, turned to look. They had all heard through the grapevine about the new Slayer teacher coming in from China and were craning their heads around to check her out. They got a good look at her as stepped into the doorway and then they got a good look at their Principal as she tripped over her own feet and landed face first on the floor.

…

"I'm okay!" Willow exclaimed from the floor as her students stood up to help and Rhona rushed forward, waving them off. She stood, dusting herself off and blushing furiously. She was looking everywhere but at Buffy, extremely embarrassed. This was not the meeting she had imagined. In her head she had been all cool and grown-up, impressing the Slayer with her maturity. Instead she just looked like a dork.

"Why don't we go outside," Rhona suggested, sensing the awkward situation between the two.

"Right," Willow nodded and rubbed her nose. The floor was really hard.

Walking outside they closed the door on the class full of curious students and then stood there for a few moments, all of them unsure where to start.

"Why don't I…just go," Rhona made a walking motion with her fingers and then spun around and left them as quickly as she could without appearing rude. Not that they were really paying attention.

"You look good," Buffy said into the silence.

"Yeah, except for the dirt and the, you know, bruising," Willow tried to make a joke, wanting to lighten up the atmosphere.

"Well that's just temporary," Buffy flashed a grin at her.

Suddenly Willow lunged forward and clasped the other girl to her in a desperate hug. That one smile had done it for her. She had seen past all the superficial changes that Buffy had gone through, the hair and the clothes, and seen that her best friend was essentially still the same person. She clung to her and sobbed a little, it was good to have her friend back.

"No more eggs?" Buffy felt Willow sniffle into her neck and shook her head.

"No more eggs," she murmured and leaned forward to hug her friend back. She hadn't really been sure what her reception was going to be like. Even if they had cleared some of the air back in the hotel, five years was a long time to be apart. She wrapped her arms around the redhead and squeezed. It was nice to know she still had a Willow-shaped friend in the world.

"So," Willow stepped back a few minutes later, wiping her eyes and still sniffling, "I suppose I should show you around and stuff, but first I need a Kleenex."

"Why don't we save the tour for tomorrow," Buffy was sniffling a little herself, "I could use some food and some girl talk."

"Ooh," Willow clapped her hands together and got an excited look, "movie night! I haven't had one of those in a long time. We could get some junk food and some ice cream and…," she cocked her head and studied Buffy guiltily, "unless you're too tired?"

"No," Buffy laughed at her friend, she had missed Willow-babble, "I would love to have a movie night. I just need to throw my bag somewhere." The two women headed down the hall in the direction of the dorms. "Do you know how long it's been since I've watched TV!"

…

Willow studied her friend as she unpacked. She was unsure of how she felt about everything. On the one hand, she was giddy as a school girl, ecstatic that Buffy was back. On the other hand, she didn't know what to do about it. There was bound to be some kind of reaction when all the Scoobies came back to see her. For a moment her mind was lost in the future and then she shook her head, she'd deal with that later. Right now her friend was here, that was all that mattered. She looks happy, she thought as she watched her. She reminded Willow a lot more of the seemingly carefree girl she had first met in high school. She didn't have that tense, brittle air that she had had at the end of the battle with the First, like she was going to break under the slightest pressure.

On the other hand, her friend was harder in a lot of other ways. Buffy had always been in shape, but now she was whipcord and bone. Muscles moved sleekly under her nicely tanned skin and Willow was reminded of the tigers she had seen in India. She seemed so in control of herself and her environment, in a way the old Buffy never had been. The old Buffy had seemed to spend so much time trying to catch up with everything, but this Buffy seemed to be ahead of the game in so many ways.

"It was good for you," Willow said, causing Buffy to look over at her. "The travel I mean and whatever you learned out there."

"Yeah," Buffy cocked her head, "It was. I learned a whole lot. You seemed to have learned a few things yourself, Miss Principal Girl. You're all teachery like."

Willow laughed and sat on the bed. "Yeppers, learned a few things. I spent a lot of time in India."

"Huh," Buffy sat down next to her friend. "What happened to going to the Coven in England?"

"Oh well," Willow twisted her skirt in her hand, "I learned a lot there, too, but you were right. I needed to get out on my own."

"How'd they take it?" Buffy asked gently.

"Giles was actually helped pack and stuff. I think he felt a little guilty about letting me leave England so soon. Xander just smiled and gave me a yellow crayon," Willow frowned and ignored Buffy's laugh, "I told you he was never going to let that drop. Dawn said that as long as I brought her presents it was fine. That reminds me, where's my present?" She scowled fiercely.

"You'll get it tonight," Buffy wouldn't be dissuaded, Willow was being all avoidy. "And Kennedy, how'd she take it?"

Willow sighed then smiled sadly. "She wouldn't wait for me."

"Oh, Wills," Buffy reached out and put her hand on Willow's shoulder, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Willow's eyes were firm, "I loved her in my own way. I mean, she helped me out of the funk I was in after Tara's death, but it wasn't a forever love. I think she knew that and began pulling away, even before my journey."

"Then I'll just be glad your okay," Buffy nodded, then asked, "Anyone else new in your life?"

"Me? No, not really," Willow shook her head, causing her shoulder length red hair to fly about. "I mean, there have been dates and stuff, but no real connections, you know? What about you?"

Buffy laughed, "No way. I spent a lot of the early years to terrified that I would rip somebody apart to even consider having sex with someone. Then, when I finally got some semblance of control, I was stuck with an old man."

"I thought you went for older guys," Willow teased.

"Oh please," Buffy giggled and flung herself back on the bed. "Whatever you say about Angel and Spike, they were at least hot. This guy was of the wrinkled variety and besides, he was to busy making me work my ass off to appreciate my stellar bod."

Willow laughed and then sobered, asking, "Did you hear about…?"

"Their last stand, yeah, I heard." Even in China they had felt the aftershocks of the battle in L.A., "They both went out the way they would have wanted to, against the Evil. I'm just sorry they had to do it that way."

"It's what he wanted," Willow said. The other reason they had gone to San Fransisco instead of L.A. had been a bit of surprise to everyone.

Before Buffy had left, Willow had pulled them all into a telepathic conversation. During her time in L.A., restoring Angel's soul, Angel had used her ability to pass on some information. One thing people forgot about Angel, looking at his brooding appearance and all, was that he was extremely intelligent. He had not become one of the most feared vampires ever by being stupid. He'd known that the offer from Wolfram & Hart was coming. His gang had been to much a nuisance to the law firm for them not to react in some manner. He also knew that the law firm preferred to corrupt rather than to fight.

He'd anticipated the move and decided already to go into the belly of the beast and fight them from there. But Angel also knew that they wouldn't really believe he had gone over to their side as long as he had ties with the Watcher's Council, so he'd decided to cut them. He'd used Willow to pass on an undetectable message to the rest of the Scoobie's and gone ahead with his plan.

"He always was a bit dramatic," Buffy sighed in a melancholy manner, remembering her past love. Shaking it off, she sat up and turned to Willow. "So what is this I heard about ice cream?"

"Oh, we have all kinds," Willow jumped up off the bed, "It's like a necessity in a school full of Slayers."

The two women walked out of the room and down the hall in search of food, Buffy asking in a plaintive voice, "Do you have Rocky Road?"

…

"Xander's coming into town in a couple of days and Giles and Dawn should be here by the end of the week, they just had to wrap things up in England." Willow made the comment while watching Buffy out of the corner of her eye. They were sitting in Willow's suite, about to eat dinner. Willow wasn't exactly worried about her friend, but she was slightly concerned. On the one hand she was all yippy skippy, her best friend was back. She even seemed happy. But that was part of the problem. Buffy was almost too happy.

Even when Willow had first met Buffy, before all the crazy Hellmouthy stuff started happening, Buffy had had an air of almost desperation. Her younger self hadn't noticed it, but now she figured it must have been a result of being Chosen. The younger Willow had thought the brash, brazen attitude of the Slayer to be so cool, something to look up to, but now she knew better.

Knowing she was the only thing that stood between the darkness and the rest of the world and that she could never have a normal life, that in all likelihood her life would be extremely short, had instilled in Buffy a desperate need to live life to its fullest. Like, if she didn't experience everything now, she never would. Eventually the stress and the horror that was her life had taken their toll. The ever cheerful Buffy had been worn down and then Buffy had died and the Buffy Willow had brought back seemed to be an empty shell that just went through the motions of being her friend.

Even with time, that old spark that had been her had never really come back. The battle with the First had even seemed to drive Buffy over the edge into madness. The last Willow had seen of Buffy, her friend had seemed like a wild animal, desperate for something she couldn't grasp.

Now her friend was back, seemingly whole and well and with a new appreciation of life and a complete grasp over her powers. Frankly, Willow was a little wigged out. This new Buffy was all confident in silent and contemplative way that Willow had never seen in her old friend. Buffy had always been a bouncing ball of energy, flitting to and fro through life, quick with sarcastic quips and lancing jibes. Now she was still quick with her words, but the rest of her seemed coiled and contained. It was kind of sexy.

_Sweet Mother Goddess ,Willow Rosenburg,_ she yelled at herself,_ you can't go around thinking those things!_ Two years of inner contemplation had forced the witch to come to grips with the fact that she loved Buffy Summers. Had from the moment the other girl had chosen to speak to her and probably would forever. She had hidden it though, hidden it deep. At first because of the fact that Buffy was a girl and Willow was much to shy and uncertain and then things had just progressed. There had been Angel and Riley for Buffy, Oz and Tara for Willow, and all the other craziness that had been their world. Willow suspected that she would have simply gone on ignoring and suppressing her feelings if not for the magick. Her loss of control over her emotions and the resulting chaos had forced Willow to look deep within herself.

For two years she had made herself look into the places she had never wanted to explore. The dark places in the corners of her soul where all her secrets hid. What she saw there had scared her. A shocking arrogance combined with a rather surprising sense of superiority. All of this had covered up a desperate need for acceptance and love. In a way she wasn't very different from Buffy.

Willow shook her head wryly. All of those things she had accused Buffy of being, she should have looked in a mirror. All of that had led to her dependency on magick. She had been desperate to be of use, to be helpful to the cause and if she was honest with herself, to Buffy. A part of her had so wanted to capture the attention of the Slayer, to make Buffy see her in a positive light. Then, when Buffy had died Willow had been desperate to bring her back. Her frantic grasping at power had led to Tara leaving her and ultimately, her girlfriend's death.

Poor Tara, Willow felt the stab of grief that always accompanied the thought of her dead lover. Willow had loved her desperately. She had been everything that was good and right in the world to Willow, but she still hadn't always come first in her life. Willow smiled sadly, Tara hadn't been stupid. In fact, the blond witch had been one of the most insightful people Willow had ever met. She saw things in people that Willow had never come close to understanding.

If she had lived, Willow knew that all of their lives would be completely different. Even Buffy had begun to respond to the gentle ministrations of the shy blond. Willow knew Tara had known about her love for Buffy. It had probably even hurt her a little. But Tara had been content to remain in the background and accept what Willow had given her. Only once had she tried to bring the subject up, when she was trying to get Willow to see her dependence on magick. Willow had shot her down quickly at the slightest mention that her feelings for Buffy might have gone beyond friendship and neither she nor Tara had ever had a chance to bring up the subject again.

"You okay, Will?" Buffy's voice broke through her reverie.

"What? Oh yeah, I'm fine, Buffy." Willow fluttered her hands about as she set the plates down. "Just, you know, thinkin' about stuff."

"Tara type stuff?" Buffy asked gently.

"Sorta. Hey, how'd you know?" Then grabbed her forehead when Buffy poked a finger between her eyes, "Ow!"

"Because you get a certain look in your eyes and a wrinkle, right there, when you think about her," Buffy grinned as Willow rubbed her forehead fiercely and scowled slightly.

"Good thoughts or bad thoughts?"

"Both, more good than bad though. Just contemplating what it would have been like if she had lived."

"I think we all would have been much better people," Buffy stated calmly, sitting down to eat. "Tara was a very special person and I don't think I got to know her nearly as well as I should have."

"Thank you," Willow whispered. It meant so much to her that Buffy had wanted to know her love, had felt that she was important. The day Buffy had stood between Tara and her father, proclaiming her family, had been one the greatest of her life.

"One should not deny truth, it eventually comes back to bite you in the ass," Buffy smiled mysteriously.

"Where'd you here that one?"

"My teacher, Master Shin, guy had a mouth on him that wouldn't quit. You would think that with being so old he'd be a prude, but not really." Willow watched as a deep grin slashed across her face and the blonde leaned in toward her like she was imparting a great secret. "He could come across as this old, mysterious Chinese guy. Like out of one of those Kung Fu movies Xander would force us to watch. But then once you knew him you realized he was just a horny old goat with a bad sense of humor. Guy had more dirty jokes than Faith!"

Willow laughed with Buffy, a picture of an old man with Faith's mouth coming to mind.

"I'd like to see him again," Buffy mused, twirling her spaghetti around her fork. "See how he's doing and show him what I've become. I think you'd like him, Will."

"What have you become, Buffy?" Willow asked the question that had been plaguing her mind for so long. That was the crux of the matter. Willow had seen all kinds of magick and magickal creatures in her travels. She had talked to demons and elementals and even an oracle once or twice, but she'd never seen anything like Buffy. Even looking at her with magickal sight yielded nothing, she just seemed to blend into the background.

"Can we wait until everyone is here?" Buffy asked, pleading for time. She just wanted to be with her friend for now. Things were coming, things that would change everything from the way her friends viewed her to the very nature of the world. She could sense it. But right now she just wanted to be Buffy and hang out with her Willow-shaped friend.

Willow watched her for a moment, then nodded. "All right but only till everyone gets here. No more hiding things from each other, we promised, remember?"

"Yep," Buffy squirmed in her chair and grinned infectiously, "No more of the secret type stuff. So tell me, in the interest of not keeping secrets, when was the last time you got lucky?"

Soda sprayed out of Willow mouth slightly as she choked in surprised. Coughing, she gave her friend a glare of pure malice. "Where the heck did that come from?" Willow gasped out.

"Well I sure haven't been getting any lately, so I have to live vicariously through my friends. Here," Buffy handed Willow a napkin, "You missed a little."

...

Author's Note:

So I wrote this chapter and it turned out longer than I thought it would. I just kept writing and I couldn't stop. Lucky you, exhausted and sleepy me.

I had to mention Angel in here somehow. I'm trying to go by the timeline in the Angel show where Andrew showed up and took the crazy Slayer back, breaking ties between Angel Investigations and the New Council. Angel, though not my favorite character, always struck me as being pretty sharp. If he was to survive and be as scary a vamp as they claimed he was I figured he would be able to judge Wolfram and Hart pretty well. After the season finale I leave it to sharper minds than mine to figure out what happened. If your interested that series is also being finished off in comic form. Pretty good read.

A bit of clarification on the school names. To the public the schools are called by their given names, the Jenny Calender School for Girls and such, but to the Slayers and the Council they are referred to as their city or country location, like the Cleveland Academy. It's just the usual slang that develops.

More good stuff later. Keep up the reviews and thanks for all the support.

OMAKE:

Selene (the receptionist)- thinking to herself -That woman doesn't seem to bright.

Buffy- as Selene turns away, sticks out tongue

Selene- whips head around- Wha..?

Buffy- innocent expression

Selene- thinking to herself -I could swear...but no. She's couldn't have...

Buffy- sticks tongue out a again

Selene- whips around again - Did she just...?

Buffy- chuckling to herself -Just like math class...heh, heh, heh!


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer:

Author: It's mine.

Mr. Whedon: No it's not.

Author: Pleeeaaaassseee! With a cherry on top?!

Mr. Whedon: ...No.

Author: -huff- fine, be that way!

...

_Chapter 15_

Buffy strolled down the halls of the school the next day, ignoring the occasional odd looks from students and teachers. Classroom, classroom, classroom, she thought, it's like some weird dimension of Hell. There were classes on demons, classes on magick, classes on demons with magick. There were even classes on how to recognize the signs for a coming Apocalypse. She really wished she'd have had one of those in high school. It probably would have been the only class she'd have aced. There were also classes on regular subjects, like math and english. The place was a high school after all. She tried to steer clear of those.

Willow had been caught up in some type of bureaucratic emergency involving lots of paperwork and red tape that Buffy wanted nothing to do with and so she had had to leave Buffy to her own devices. She had offered to arrange for a guide, but Buffy had declined. She didn't want some stuffy Watcher dragging her around to all the boring places. She wanted to see all the interesting things. Like what she'd just found.

She had meandered her way down to the end of the west wing and found what she thought was heaven all over again. She'd opened the doors to find the biggest gym she'd ever seen. It was huge. An Olympic sized mat and bars and a balance beam and rings and all kinds of neat toys. Then there was a sparring arena and a whole area set up for various martial arts, with dummies and everything. There was a whole wall with all kinds of practice weapons, it was amazing.

"So this is what happens when the Watcher's Council coughs up money," she muttered to herself darkly. She was still kinda ticked off to find out about all the money they'd been hiding. If they'd still been alive she'd have hunted them down and kicked their asses. Buffy could still smell the grease from all those stupid burgers. She had never been able to look at one the same since.

Shaking her head she headed back through the halls toward the classrooms. It was almost time for lunch and Willow had promised to meet with Buffy to discuss her upcoming schedule. It was going to be an interesting day, she could just feel it.

…

Buffy watched Willow as she leaned over one of her students, helping the girl steady the pencil she was floating. Willow had matured a lot in the four years they had been apart. This Willow was completely confident in herself and her magick. Buffy could sense her rock solid connection with the Earth and the power that flowed about her. The dark was still there, it always would be, but now it was carefully balanced by the light and superbly controlled.

Physically, she looked very much the same. Her deep red hair was shoulder length and feathered in different lengths. Her wardrobe was as eclectic as ever and still tended to go toward the flowy skirts and tops in earth and fall tones. Her skirt today was a patchwork of rusts, golds, and greens. A white peasant top and various bits of gold jewelry completed the outfit. The only real signs of age were a few laugh lines at the corners of her eyes. It was the way she carried herself that had changed.

"You've grown into a very beautiful woman, Willow Rosenburg," Buffy said quietly as Willow came forward to greet her as the class was dismissed and had the supreme pleasure of watching the witch go completely red.

"W…What? Well, you know, thank you. I think it must be the bone structure…my parent's that is…with the genes…I'll shut up now." Willow kept blushing. Jeesh, she thought to herself, I can face down a charging P'toth demon with absolute calm, but put Buffy Summers in a room and I go all googly.

Buffy grinned, "I missed Willow babble," she said and slipped her arm through the blushing witch's arm. "Now, where does a girl go to get fed around here? I'm starving." The two of them had stayed up almost all night last night, exchanging stories about their travels and eating junk food. It was probably the happiest the Slayer had felt in a very long time.

"Oh right," Willow snapped back into reality, "I'll take you to the cafeteria. They probably have enough food there to feed even you."

"Hey," Buffy whined, "I don't eat that much."

"I once saw you down five hamburgers in one meal, fries included."

"Well I had just come back from the dead for the first time and then taken out the Master, I was a little peckish." The blond woman groused at her friend as they walked down the stairs. "Besides, one good thing about Slayer metabolism, none of that goes to my hips."

"Don't remind me," Willow chucked, "I used to be so jealous of you."

"I didn't see you turning away ice cream last night, missy."

"Mmmm, I never could resist tasty milk byproducts," Willow said, then smirked, "Of course, I have found in my travels that working magick burns almost as many calories as slaying."

"Ahhh, so that's why you became a witch. It was one of those new fad diets."

"That's right, I'm going to be the next Jane Fonda." The girls entered the cafeteria giggling hysterically and bantering back and forth about how they were going to get the world in shape by making them all float pencils.

"We'll be rich," Buffy declared triumphantly, "We can finally retire to Hawaii and spend the rest on of our days on the beach."

"We can't retire there, Anne," Willow slipped into cover as they were surrounded by curious Slayer ears, "Hawaii is the center of a mystical convergence, didn't you know?"

"I'm fantasizing here, Ms. Rosenburg. Don't shoot me down with a little thing like reality." Buffy grumbled and stepped into the lunch line.

"My apologies," Willow picked up a salad while Buffy went after a turkey sub. "I'll keep my silly ideas to myself."

"See that you do. Oooh, jello!" The perky blond grabbed double portions and accompanied her friend to a table off in a corner. Both of them were blatantly ignoring the curious looks they were getting as they settled in.

Willow sighed, "We're gonna have to do something about this, you know that don't you? The girls are way curious about you. I know you said you were going to start teaching right away, but you haven't even told me what subject you want to teach!"

"Don't worry," Buffy smiled confidently at her friend. Willow sat up, staring at her friend. In Buffy's eyes Willow saw something she'd never seen before, absolute and utter confidence herself and her place in the world. Even at the best of times, Willow knew her friend had been a little bit scared. But this Buffy had no fear at all.

"What did you learn out there, Anne?" Willow asked wonderingly.

"A little of this, a little of that," Buffy opened herself up a little, letting Willow get a little glimpse of what was beneath. She would normally never do this with anyone else, but this was Willow. She, more than anyone else, deserved to know. She, more than anyone else, would understand.

Willow's eyes widened as Buffy let down her shields just for her. Her friend suddenly became so much more than just the blond woman sitting across from her. Power, old and pure, shown from her and her eyes flashed gold for a moment. Willow got a sudden image of thousands of girls, thousands of lives, flowing back into history and forward into the future. Something within her rang out in complete accordance with it and for a moment she and Buffy sat alone in absolute synchronicity.

"Goddess," she gasped out as Buffy shut herself off again, leaving Willow to flounder around a bit. It was liked something had torn away a vital piece of her. "What was that?"

"Hmmmm, that was interesting" Buffy looked a bit flushed herself. "Didn't expect it to feel like that, makes sense though."

"What makes sense?!" Willow was very confused.

"Don't worry, Willow," she said again. "But it looks like this is going to be much easier than I thought it would and a whole lot more fun!" Buffy sent her a look that caused Willow to slowly flush, this time for an entirely different reason.

_Don't be silly_, Willow thought to herself as she coughed slightly and turned her attention to her food, _Buffy doesn't feel _that_ way about you_. Still, she couldn't seem to get that look out of her mind as she attacked her salad with gusto.

"Besides," Buffy stated right before she sunk her teeth into her sandwich, "I have a plan."

…

Maria Evans, Karen Rice, Vashka Radminoff, and Jennie Benson were sitting around chatting in one of the smaller training rooms of the Cleveland Academy. Today's lesson was supposed to be taught by the new instructor, Anne Montgomery, but she was late. All the girls were seniors. At the end of the year they would go out to their posts in the real world. Most would enter squads in specific regions or cities and some might be assigned to a special division like Intelligence or Teaching. But today they were getting a little bored.

They had all heard about the new teacher from China and knew they were her first class. They had been eager to meet her and so had showed up a little early even. But now she was 15 minutes late and they were starting to get irritated. The girls weren't even sure what she was going to be teaching. They had just been told to show up with their training gear on in one of sparring rooms, so they assumed it was combat.

"Look," Vashka said finally, "I say we just leave. We can go to the main class instead and if anyone asks we'll just tell them the teacher didn't show."

The other girls looked at each other and shrugged. It sounded good to them. Grumbling, they began to stand up from their sprawled positions on the mats. Then all the lights went out.

"What the hell?!" Karen exclaimed as all of them jumped to their feet and formed a circle, backs to each other.

They had been well trained. They didn't take anything for granted. Even a seemingly innocent blackout could be cause for worry. They all peered into the dark, trying to make out anything. Slayers could see in almost pitch black, but even they had to have some ambient light to pick up on. But the small room had no windows. Even the strip of light that would normally be present under the door was gone. It was as if something was deliberately suppressing it.

"I don't think we're alone in here," Jennie whispered.

As if to emphasize her point a low growl pierced the darkness. Instantly the girls orientated on it, swinging around, but then another came from the other side of the room.

"There's a goddamned pack of 'em," Karen stated, actually starting to get a little spooked. Things like this weren't supposed to be able to get into the Academies. They were supposed to be _safe _here!

"Keep your cool, girls," Maria tried to keep her voice calm and reassuring. "Just keep in formation and we'll be able to deal."

Low laughter came out of the dark at the statement, seeming to mock it. Yellow glowing eyes appeared and disappeared, winking in and out in a taunting manner. All the girls were suddenly nervous. They shouldn't be feeling this way. Every one of them was a seasoned trainee who had experienced worse things then this. But it was as if the fear was permeating the whole room, like a thick haze. It began to mess with their minds.

"Come and get some, you stupid fuck!" Vashka yelled and stepped out threateningly.

"Vashka no…!" Maria's warning was too late. With a shortened scream of rage and a roar of victory she was dragged into the pitch black and away from her friends.

"Vashka!" Jennie made to move forward but the others to grabbed her.

"Don't Jennie," Maria reasoned, "You'll just be playing into its hands. Stay together."

"Do you really think so?" Came a soft hissing voice next to Karen's ear.

Whipping her head around she didn't even manage a scream before she was pulled away, kicking futilely.

"Jesus," Jennie yelped, spinning around in an effort to see what was stalking them, "What the hell is out there?! We've got to get out of here! We've got to get he…Ahhhh!"

The thing in the dark had moved in once more and taken another victim. With one lingering scream Maria was left alone, panting in the dark.

"What are you?" She circled slowly, keeping her senses honed. She was seriously wigged out but she was doing her best to remember all the lessons they'd been taught. Maybe if she got it talking she could figure out where it was

"I am many things," a soft voice whispered from her right, then came from her left, "What are you?"

"I'm a Slayer," she responded confidently.

"Are you?" The voice mocked, "All I see are scared little girls. What makes you a Slayer?"

"….," Maria found herself faltering slightly. She couldn't quite think of the answer to that. Before today she would have been able to answer confidently, but now she was just scared.

"Silly girl," the voiced seemed almost to sigh, "Death makes you a Slayer!"

With those words came a mighty roar, but not where Maria thought it would come from. Instead of coming from the right, where the voice was, it came from directly over her head. Shocked, she looked up and got only the impression of a dark shape descending and yellow eyes. Then it was on her and everything went blurry.

...

Author's Note:

Sorry for the delay. Had a show to go to this weekend. Much fun involved, but you guys don't care about that so on with the good stuff. It's another cliffhanger and if you're past comments are an indication I should be afraid for my life. I live for danger!

Not much to comment on, the chapter speaks for itself. See you next time. Will try and get it out a little sooner. Thanks for the reviews and keep 'em up!

p.s. you might have noticed that these last couple of chapters aren't as well edited. sorry, i've been exhausted lately and i figured you'd rather have the chapter now and i'd go back and fix it all later when i get a break. hopefully...


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I'm like my favorite horse. I didn't do it!!

...

_Chapter 16_

Maria Evans slowly came back into awareness. The last thing she remembered, she was being attacked by the _thing_ that had ambushed her and her friends in the sparring room at the Academy. That wasn't supposed to be able to happen. The schools were supposed to be protected. Nonetheless it had, and she was really surprised that she wasn't dead right now.

"Hssst, hey," Maria blinked in groggy surprise as Vashka poked at her. She was supposed to be dead, too. "Wake up, sleepyhead."

"What…?" Maria sat up and grabbed her head, groaning. It felt like she'd been rammed into a brick wall. She looked around. Not only was everyone else alive, they were all free and looking fine. Vashka sat next to her, the brunette Russian glowering, and Jennie and Karen were across from them on the mat. They were all staring at something behind her.

Turning, she saw the reason for their stares. Anne Montgomery, the teacher they'd been waiting for, the one that had been late, was grinning at them cheekily from her spot on the floor.

"Hello, ladies," she addressed them, "and welcome to my class."

"How…Why…?" Karen spluttered in outrage.

"The how is a secret," and a small blackout spell from Willow, Buffy thought silently, "The why is very important, however."

"I thought you were a combat instructor?" Vashka snarled. She was still smarting over her easy defeat.

"Combat is a different class," she smiled, and then became grim, "I'm here to teach you about something much more important."

"About death?" Maria asked grimly, remembering the words that had been said right before she'd been knocked out. "Because we've all seen it."

It was the unfortunate truth. Life in the Academies was fun and, for the most part, safe. But every Academy had had at least one death. Either as part of training or a girl that had graduated. As safe as the Council tried to make them, the girls were still Slayers and that carried a certain amount of risk.

"Not about death," their teacher replied, "I'm sure you've all had the 'Death is my Gift' 'speal." She'd heard about it from Willow. One late night mention of it to Andrew back in Sunnydale and now it was mass marketed. Jeez!

"Oh yeah," the girls replied en masse. Andrew could be a good teacher when he toured through but his lectures tended to ramble on. He always seemed to get distracted by his own vague movie references.

"Right," Anne nodded, "And death is a very important part of being a Slayer. It permeates our very being. Another person's death leads to our being Chosen, normally," she cocked her head and grinned at them at the inside joke, "And our death will lead to the next and on and on."

"There's also the fact that we cause a lot of it," Vashka snorted, "At least of the demon variety."

"True, very true. But do you think death is the only gift we've been given?"

"Well," Jenny ventured, "We've got the whole superpower thing going on."

The rest of the Slayers chuckled, even Anne.

"That always helps," she laughed, "But even a normal person with no superpowers can kill a vampire. It just takes a little more effort. Fear," their teacher looked deep into each of their eyes and they felt pierced to their souls, "Fear is the other gift."

A moment of silence engulfed the room as the Slayers processed this. Then Vashka burst into laughter.

"What the hell kind of two bit philosophy is that?!"

The teacher they knew as Anne waited until their laughter petered out. An uneasy silence settled as the girls realized she wasn't kidding.

"What did you feel when I turned out the lights and took you down one by one?" Her voice was deadly serious. "You felt fear. You were afraid for your lives. I took a place you were supposed to be safe in and I turned it unsafe. You'll never feel completely comfortable or complacent here again."

"You all reacted to the fear differently. Some with anger," she looked to Vashka, "some with confusion and panic," Jennie and Karen looked down, shamefaced, "and some with logic," her eyes sought out Maria. "All of those reactions are natural, but wrong."

"How so?" Maria asked.

"Fear exists for a reason," Anne explained, "It tells us when we are in a dangerous situation. It is our body's way of telling us there is something out there that we are not consciously aware of. You need to learn to slow down and listen to what your body is telling you, to use _all_ your senses. But fear can also be used as a weapon."

The girls stirred, feeling the truth of her words.

"It is what makes the Slayer so effective. Not how many demons you kill. There are too many of them, even for all of us. It is our ability to inspire fear in them which keeps them in line. You must do for the demons exactly what I did for you. You must take them by surprise and make them scatter. Make them afraid."

The four Slayers say back, stunned a bit.

"That is what this class is about," she told them now that she had their full and undivided attention. "It's about fear, how to deal with it in yourself and how to use it to your advantage."

…

"Brother?" The tall, skinny man named Titus stood pulling apart a piece of string in the big, red trophy room.

"What is it?"

"I have a problem, brother."

"Oh?" The shorter man, Zeak, put down the pen he was writing with and looked over.

"Yes," Titus pouted, "Someone's taking away all my fun."

"How so?"

"It's the little ones, the pretty toys I collected. I'd gotten a few and then someone went and let them out before I could play with them."

"Hmmm?" The short man frowned, considering. "Do you have any information on whom? Was it the Slayers?"

"Well," Titus scratched his head frantically, "I kind of killed the guards before they could tell me anything."

"Titus," Zeak sighed, putting his head in his hands, "You know what I told you about keeping your temper…"

"But I was so angry!" Titus tried to explain, "They had let my pretty toys escape. My hands just moved before I could stop them."

"Titussss," Zeak growled, getting irritated and causing the thin man to cower back.

"I'm sorry, brother," he pleaded, "I'll never do it again. I swear!"

"If it weren't for mama…," Zeak grumbled the often repeated phrase, setting back. Then he sighed, "It seems they caught onto us a little faster than I expected, but that's okay. I accounted for that possibility. I want you to step up to the next level."

Titus seemed excited, but nervous. "Are you sure, brother?"

"Of course I am, Titus," Zeak's voice was firm as he explained, "The only reason your scared is because they're Slayers. But you have to understand. Slayers aren't the bogeymen that everyone thinks they are."

"They kill so many of us because we're so disorganized. But if we work together and approach the problem logically, even Slayers aren't that scary anymore." He grinned ferally, flashing his fangs, "They're just meat, like any other human."

……………………….

Author's Note:

Don't kill me, here it is! No real cliffhanger this time, so don't start shooting again. I swear, you guys can't take a joke! (wink)

This chapter was all about how I always thought the Slayer really operated. If you think about it, one girl couldn't really stand against all the forces of darkness. So I figured they rated on a Q-ship type of strategy. Basically that means that they would lure the demons out by looking completely normal and then strike at them. This would cause the demons to be wary of any "normal looking" prey. (For a more thorough explanation of Q-Ships I suggest _British and Dominion Warships of WWII_)

Their tactics, even with so many, would also have to resemble that of Special Forces strike teams rather than conventional infantry. Dash in under cover, hit the target with devastating force, then escape without capture. This causes fear and panic and, when it works, if particularly effective against a larger force.

But enough with boring explanations! My normal shout out to all the reviewers, you guys keep me going. Thank you. I would like to add a special thanks to La Fin du Mond and Lone Voice, you guys are so cool. Also, to my ever present reviewers, Crzy4Anime and Shadow High Angel, a special ROCK ON!

Omake next time!


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer:

Author: It's mine, all mine (insert evil laughter)!

Innocent Bystander: What's wrong with her?

Friend #1: -gesturing -Just keep on moving, nothing to see here. She just missed her medication is all.

...

_Chapter 17_

"Willow!" Willow staggered back as Dawn leaped on her with enthusiasm, her normal greeting for the red-headed witch after their long separation.

"Air, Dawnie," she gasped and flailed at the girl, "Air!"

"Ohhh, you don't need it," but despite her words the brunette loosened her grip.

"I think you've gotten taller," she teased the girl as she hugged her back.

It was true. The past five years had been good for Buffy's younger sister, both physically and mentally. She had grown out of the skinny, coltish look and matured into a beautiful woman. She would never be called voluptuous but her figure had filled out to match her height. Dark, lustrous hair fell in a straight waterfall down her back and thankfully the twinkle of mischief in her eyes had never disappeared, even after finally taking over the Council's political office.

Dawn had graduated from Cambridge in an astonishing three years. It seemed the famed Summer's obstinacy had run true. When she put her mind to something she got it done, no matter what. She had put that obstinance and seemingly innocent face to good use. Conning some of the world's most powerful politicians into deals and concessions and even making them thank her for it.

With Giles running the Research and Information side of things, back among his beloved books, they made a formidable team. Willow had managed to pass off their coming as an informal meeting to discuss various political issues.

"When's Xander coming?" Dawn asked, stepping back.

"He'll be here in about two days. He and Veronica had to deal with something."

"Apocalypse?"

"No, civil war."

The truth was that Africa was still a continent in upheaval. The Slayers over there spent more time trying to avoid the local wars than killing nasties. Unfortunately, the Council couldn't leave because when the demon problems did crop up they were usually huge and nasty and end of the world type baddies. For obvious reasons, the Academy there was small, only accepted locals, and was staffed with volunteers.

"I heard about that," Giles pushed his glasses up with his finger and then returned the hug that Willow greeted him with. "How is everything here?"

Willow sighed at his veiled reference to the real reason they were all gathered together. She was wondering how long it would take.

"Yeah," Dawn was trying to look nonchalant and failing. "How is she?"

"She's….hard to explain."

"How so?" Giles looked at her intensely.

"It's like…most of the time she's Buffy, you know?" Willow struggled to explain the enigma that her best friend had become. "She looks different. She's let her hair grow out and isn't coloring it anymore. She keeps it in a braid most of the time and doesn't mess with it." That in itself was odd. Buffy had used to love to play with her hair.

"She hasn't gone to the mall at all," Dawn gave Willow a look of pure horror, "and she walks around in the same style clothes all the time. But that's not it."

"I could get all that," Willow shook her head in frustration, "she's supposed to be undercover and I get that. It's her behavior."

"Has she gone back to mopey Buffy?" Dawn asked, sitting down in a chair in front of Willow's desk. Giles sat down next to her.

"No, if anything she seems happier than I've seen her in a very long time. But then she'll do these weird things. She'll get this look in her eyes and go all silent or she'll just look at you like she knows everything that's going on in your head." Willow shivered as she remembered the first time Buffy had done that. It hadn't been scary, but strange all the same.

"And I can't see her Giles. Not magickally, I mean."

Giles pushed his glasses up and leaned forward slightly. "Explain."

"I tried, the first time I saw her, to look at her aura," Willow's voice was strained, "It was as if she didn't exist. She just blends in to the background. It really freaked me out."

"What did she say when you asked her about it?"

"She said she'd explain when we all got here. That way she'd only have to do it. There's something else, too. She keeps disappearing, sometimes during the day, sometimes at night. But she just says it's just something she needs to do and she'll explain later. That it's all tied together."

Giles sat back and frowned. It was good to hear Buffy was doing okay. When he'd heard she was in Cleveland his heart had leapt and only a deeply ingrained sense of responsibility had kept him from catching the next flight.

"It sounds like we need to trust her then," Giles finally nodded. A good many of the regrets in his life had occurred because he hadn't trusted Buffy. So he had made a promise to himself that when she came back he would do his best to support her, no matter what.

"Didn't you say she was teaching classes now?" Dawn interjected.

"Yeah," Willow nodded, reassured by Giles's calm. "She's teaching one right now. Want to go see her?"

"Oh, yeah," Dawn nodded, grinning enthusiastically. "I wanna see her face when she realizes how much taller than her I am."

…

The main training room of the Cleveland Academy was huge. There were separate training areas and it could accommodate multiple classes going on at the same time, but at the moment Dawn and rest walked in there was only one class making use of it.

It was fairly early, nine in the morning, and most of the Slayers were still asleep. The Academies tended to operate on an afternoon/evening schedule because of the nocturnal habits of their students. Dawn and Giles had caught a red-eye over and were still awake because of the time difference. But Dawn was wondering what had happened to her sister in the past five years to make her voluntarily get up before noon.

The first sight she got of Buffy, she was lobbing water balloons at some poor girl who was blindfolded. Of course, she wasn't the only one throwing things. Three other Slayers faced the girl and were cheerfully tossing projectiles at their fellow student.

As her sister and the others watched, Buffy would yell out at random intervals, "Catch!" or "Dodge!" and the girl would have to switch from catching the balloons without breaking them to dodging them without moving from the medium size crescent that was set down on the floor in duct tape. All, while not being able to see a thing.

The girls and Buffy weren't playing around either, Dawn decide, as she watched one of them hurl her balloon like a major league pitcher, making it smash into the wall behind their target with a loud smack! The girls throwing the balloons were also yelling loudly and jeering, trying to keep the one in front of them off balance. The Slayer against the wall was already wet in some areas and panting heavily.

Finally, when it looked like the girl was going to drop and was unable to effectively dodge or catch the balloons anymore, Buffy called a halt to the exercise. Exhausted, the young Slayer dropped to her hand and knees, panting. Giggling and jostling each other the equally wet girls surrounding her, obvious victims of the same treatment, dropped their balloons and flopped onto the mats as well.

"Anne," Willow called out as their teacher finished off her ending comments to her class, getting her attention, "Could you come over here for a minute? I have some people I'd like you to meet."

Dawn tried to keep her face from showing her nervousness and excitement as the sister she had practically worshipped and hadn't seen in over five years turned to face them. Somehow, she didn't think it would be good for Buffy's cover if she began jumping up and down in the air and waving her hands like an idiot, screaming her sister's name.

...

Author's Note:

I'm going to get mauled one of these days, but I just love cliffhangers! Here's a little something to keep you going till I get the next chapter.

Omake:

Author- stare

Friend #1- What are you doing?

Author- Trying to think of something funny to write for my next chapter.

-two hours later

Author- stare

Friend #1- chewing apple -How's that funny stuff going for ya'?

Author- Ohhh, shut it!


	18. Chapter 18

_Disclaimer: No, no, no, no, no, I don't wanna say it!_

…………………………_.._

_Chapter 18_

Dawn actually managed to wait until they made it back to Willow's office until she squealed and jumped at Buffy.

"Where's my present?!" She asked the important question first as she tried to squeeze the life out of her sister.

Laughing, Buffy hugged her back. It was good to see Dawn hadn't changed _that_ much over the years.

"It's in my room, you'll have to wait."

"But I don't wanna!" Dawn whined playfully as she stepped back, "Man, you've gotten short."

"Don't push it," Buffy frowned up at her sister. "I can give your present to someone else."

"Sorry, sorry," Dawn backed away laughing, holding her hands up in mock surrender.

Giles watched the two sisters squabble, happy that they could resume their relationship so easily. He only hoped Buffy and he could do the same. But somehow he thought it would be a little more complicated than that.

Though Dawn had been among the Scoobies when they'd kicked Buffy out she, of all of them, had had some excuse. She'd been scared of what here sister had been becoming. She'd seen it as the only way to stop her. Giles and the others had simply lost their faith in her.

"Hello, Giles," he blinked wildly behind his glasses and looked down to see Buffy standing before him.

"Ahem, yes," he coughed uncomfortably and shifted on his feet, unsure of his welcome. "Well, it's good to see…"

He trailed off as Buffy grabbed hold of him and hugged him, burying her head in his chest.

"It's good to see you," he repeated, all the tension running out of his body as he hugged her back. Dawn and Willow tried to hold back tears at the emotional reunion but Buffy had no qualms and proceeded to soak Giles's suit jacket.

A few minutes later Buffy stepped back, sniffling, as Giles coughed again and began to clean his glasses, surreptitiously wiping away a tear or two of his own.

"Dawnie," Buffy looked over at her sister with a pleading look in her eyes, "Why don't you get Willow to show you where my room is. Your present is in a small red box in the top right shelf of the dresser."

"Okay," Dawn flicked her eyes rapidly between Giles and Buffy and then took the subtle hint. Quietly, she and Willow left the room, and the two, to their privacy.

"So, I'm sure you have some questions," Buffy said as she gestured to Giles to sit.

"Yes," Giles nodded, following her suggestion and settling himself in one of Willow's chairs, "But Willow said you wished to wait until we were all together to answer them. I'm willing to wait until you're ready."

Buffy studied him for a moment, and then nodded.

"Thank you, Giles. That means a lot to me."

"I also wish to explain a few things," Giles reached up and absently began to cleaning his glasses with quick, agitated movements. "Buffy, in the past my actions have not always been…clear. I wish…"

"Giles," Buffy interrupted, smiling kindly, "Its okay."

"Excuse me?" Giles was very flustered now. He had practiced this speech time and again in his head but it had never turned out this way. She hadn't even let him get to the good parts.

"It's okay," Buffy looked at him with new eyes. Willow was right. It was like she was peering straight into his soul. "I get it now, I do. You were scared of feeling hurt if you lost me again and so you tried to distance yourself."

Giles blinked as she summed up the entirety of his feelings with one simple sentence.

"How did you…?"

"I've had a lot of time to think in the past five years," Buffy shrugged. "I knew you still loved me and that was the only explanation that made sense. And Master Shin was very helpful in getting me to figure it out." She shook her head ruefully and then looked up at him

"Don't fool yourself. I spent a good amount of time being angry with you. You hurt me, Giles." Giles felt like someone had sucker-punched him in the gut.

"I always thought of you as family. I mean, let's face it," She looked down at the ground and hunched her shoulders slightly, "You were more of a father to me, to all of us, then our real dads' were. And when you left after…I came back, I just couldn't figure out why."

"Buffy, I…"

"Wait, let me finish," Buffy stopped him, meeting his eyes again. "There was something I forgot through all those years, something important. You're human, Giles. You make mistakes."

"You came in and you took on not only a rebellious Slayer, but her pack of crazy, teenage friends. You supported us as best you could, when it went in the face of everything you'd been taught to believe was right. You even broke away from an organization that has been a part of your family for generations, all for me. To protect _me_."

"I idolized you. I put you on a pedestal and then when you made a mistake I pushed you away and refused to really forgive you. That was wrong of me, so I'm…I'm sorry."

Giles could only stare at Buffy as she stood there, practically scuffling her fear. To be honest, he'd never expected words like that to come out of her mouth. She'd really become a mature woman and he'd never been prouder of her than at this moment.

"Thank you, Buffy," he blinked rapidly, "But I should have trusted you more. I always knew you were an exceptional young woman but I didn't always allow you the chance to show it. All too often you had to do things in spite of me and that's not how it's supposed to work. A Watcher is supposed to support his Slayer."

"Hey, I'm not saying that I'm not grateful for the trust," Buffy grinned engagingly at him, "But back then I don't know if I would have recognized it anyway."

"All I was looking for back then was a way out. You were an adult and so I expected you to save me, to do my job _for_ me. But Giles," she looked at him with those piercing eyes again and Giles found himself pinned to the ground, unable to move even though he wanted to back away, "The truth of the matter is that no one can to my job…except me."

…

"Did you have a good visit?" Willow asked Buffy as they walked back to their rooms later that night.

"Yeah, I did," Buffy nodded, "It was good to see them again. I missed them a lot more than I thought."

"Oh?"

"It's weird, you know?" Buffy mused, "You get so caught up in what you're doing at the time. It's not that I didn't miss them but time, just seemed to…blur…"

For a moment Buffy's voice trailed off and her eyes seemed to look off into the distance. Willow wondered where her mind was taking her, what thoughts were going on inside her head.

"If I can ask, how'd your talk with Giles go?" Willow tried not to let how intensely curious she was show through her expression.

She had had her own problems with Giles's decision to go back to England after Buffy's death. She and Tara had essentially been left alone to raise Dawn. They had both loved Dawnie and Tara had been great with her, but Willow had to admit that trying to balance finances and everything else had been stressful. Not to mention having to deal with Sunnydale without a Slayer.

But she couldn't really resent him. Every time she tried, she just kept seeing his face as they'd buried Buffy. His expression had been so frozen but his eyes had reflected all the agony he'd been going through. Though sad when he'd left, he'd almost looked relieved and Willow couldn't find it in herself to deny him the chance to heal.

Besides, at that time she'd almost been relieved to see him gone. She'd known Giles would have never approved of her plan to bring back Buffy and at that stage in her life she likely wouldn't have listened to him.

"It went well," Buffy told her, "We both said things that had needed saying for a long time. In a way, the distance was good for me. It helped me get a perspective on a lot of things."

The two women stopped outside of Willow's door as Buffy ended her comment. The corridor was deserted. Most of the staff was just beginning their day, off on patrol or teaching classes. Besides Willow, being the Principal, had an isolated nook on the top floor, her single mark of rank.

"So, you have your first patrol tomorrow night," Willow asked, "How do you feel about it?"

"I get to go out with a Newbie class," Buffy smirked, "At least this time I only have to protect them from normal vamps and demons. No Turok-Hans or Bringers for this little girl, no siree."

"That and they're all Slayer this time, not just Potentials," Willow remarked.

"That almost makes it worse," Buffy told her, "Now they have the idea that they're invulnerable. At least the Potentials had sense enough to be scared."

"That's true," Willow laughed, thinking of how the new Slayers always strutted around after their first Patrol.

"Hey, Willow?"

"Hmmm, what?" Will absently looked over at Buffy, already going over the things she had to get done tomorrow in her head.

"Remember that thing I said about perspective?"

"Yeah…," Willow was cut off as Buffy reached out and drew her head down to her own, silencing her with her lips.

Willow froze, her entire mind filled with gibbering panic and absolute glee, each fighting for supremacy. It was a light kiss, a searching one, and then the pressure on her mouth was gone. She was left standing there in shock as Buffy rested their foreheads together and inhaled unsteadily.

"Perspective is always of the good," the Slayer said and then let go, spinning on her heel to walk down the corridor.

"Ehhhh…uhmmm…huh?!"

………………………………..

Author's Note:

Alright, I'm expecting death threats from this one, so bring it on. I live for danger!! Thanks for all the reviews on the last chapter, I appreciate them as always. Actually, the amount of people asking for the next chapter (and politely, too!) made me speed this chapter along.

Also, I told you I would run you over clues as to the couple and if this aint' a Mack truck I don't know what is. So I hope you like it and I'll see you next chapter…chapter….chapt………..


	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimer: Nooooooooooo! I just had a horrible nightmare and then I woke up and found out it was real. It's. Not. Mine!

...

_Chapter 19_

"Its fine, Willow…you're gonna be fine," Willow didn't even realize she was muttering to herself as she walked down the hallway to her office. "You just need some tea."

She'd been up all night, unable to sleep because the whole…kiss…geez, it was hard to even think it…was going around and around in her head. It was difficult for her to even associate those two words together, kiss and Buffy. Kiss Buffy, Willow started to hyperventilate again. Deliberately slowing down her breathing, she made a silent vow not to think about it for the rest of the day. She would focus only on her work. It would be as if it had never happened.

…

"She kissed me!" Willow found herself blurting out as Dawn walked into her office later that day, shutting the door behind her.

Willow's schedule was very weird. During part of the week she stayed up during the day and dealt with the "normal" world and taught a few of the basic magick courses. Then, for the rest of the week she was up at night and helping out teaching the advanced magick users and assisting with the Slayer related stuff. Though she was, of course, available for emergencies at all times.

Today's schedule was a rollover. Willow would work today, take a small nap, and be back at it tonight. Some of the other Watchers though her crazy but after so many years in Sunnydale doing patrol and then going to class, she was used to it. All of the old Sunnydale crew seemed to operate best on strange schedules, which was helpful in their business.

"Who kissed you?!" Dawn squealed, reminding Dawn of the teenage girl she'd once been. Dawn perched herself on one of the chairs ad leaned forward. She was always interested in gossip.

"Was it Maria, that Watcher I sent you from England? I told you she was totally hot!"

"No, no, no," Willow waved her off. She couldn't believe she'd opened her big mouth. Despite her vow, the scene had kept playing over again in her head. Dawn had turned into her de facto confidant in the past five years with Buffy gone and so, when the younger woman had walked in, she'd simply blurted out the news. Now she had to deal with the consequences.

"That is…uhmmm," Willow knew there was no way out. Dawn was like a pit bull when it came to things she wanted. There would be no escape. "Actually it was…uh…you know…," she gestured inanely and then managed to whisper, "Buffy?"

There was a moment's pause and then Dawn started laughing.

"I'm sorry…I thought for a minute there you said…Buffy…oh my god, you did!" Dawn blurted out as she took in the expression on Willow's face, that of barely hidden guilt. "When?!"

"Last night," Willow felt an odd sort of release as she poured out the story, "We were just walking back to our rooms…and…and we stopped at mine…and then…BAM…out of the blue, Buffy kissage."

"Well that's…," honestly Dawn didn't really know what to say to that.

Dawn was now really confused. She loved her sister, she really did. She didn't always _like_ her, especially when she was being all overprotective, but she loved her. She had also come to realize that most of the problems that she had with Buffy had been of the normal sisterly type. They had just been exacerbated by the whole Hellmouth thing.

Time and distance had done amazing things for the situation. She could now look back and realize that both of them had done some really stupid things to each other. Buffy had overcompensated and tried to hard to be like a mother to Dawn when she'd been forced into the position of guardian. Dawn had acted out against Buffy and everyone else because she was angry at the world for her mother's death and the whole Glory thing and an had had an overall feeling of helplessness.

Dawn had realized over the years that feeling helpless was not something she liked. She'd grown up having powerful women role models and being constantly told that she couldn't do anything had been grating. Being in charge of the Political Branch of the Council and being able to go out and help had done wonders for her.

Being in charge had also helped her understand her sister a little more. Being the boss was hard. People were constantly coming to you for advice and help, even over stupid things. She was also now responsible for so many lives. Each decision she made could have drastic consequences. Dawn had come to have even more respect for her sister for having all that thrust upon her from a young age.

So though she'd loved Buffy she had come to realize why she'd felt she'd had to leave, she'd come to accept it. And when Dawn had heard Buffy was back she'd been ecstatic, sure that she and Buffy would get along great now that they'd both gotten their acts together.

But now she was feeling weird, because the Buffy she'd gotten back was not exactly the sister she'd remembered. At first she hadn't really noticed. Even after Willow's cryptic remarks she was sure that Buffy couldn't have changed _that_ much. But as they'd talked and visited, she realized Willow was right.

During their conversations Buffy's attention would sort of wander off, like she was listening to something else no one could hear. Or, she would come out with these off the wall, completely correct observations. Like Dawn was explaining how they'd been having trouble with a Peruvian Slayer's family and Buffy had just spit out this advice, as if she knew the family or something. The crazy thing about it was the more Dawn thought about it, the more she thought the suggestion would work.

But as curious as she was and as much as she wanted to ask questions, Dawn didn't want to rock the boat. Her sister was home. She was whole and happy and not being all depressed and moping around or angry and yelling. Dawn just didn't want to mess that up. But with everything else and now _this_, Dawn thought it was time for a little talk between siblings.

"Why don't I talk to her?" She repeated her thought out loud to Willow.

"No!" Willow was frantic, waving her hands in the air. "I mean…what if she answers you?! Do you know how horrible that could be?!"

"I think you need to downgrade to decaf," Dawn eyed Willow, who was manically pouring herself more tea.

"I mean, how bad can it be? Either it was a real kiss, which we both know you want so don't give me those innocent eyes Willow Rosenberg, or it wasn't and you were having a hallucination brought on by to little sleep and to many mochas. Either way, you'll know."

"A…Alright," Willow slumped in her chair, knowing she couldn't stop Dawn, "But try and be a bit subtle. Maybe hint around a little or something. Don't just tell her that I blurted it out like a big dork. Maybe don't even mention the kiss at all, just ask about her feelings."

"Yeah, right!" Dawn snorted, "Then we'll join hands and sing Kumbaiya. In case you hadn't noticed, Summers women don't do subtle. If I try hinting around we'll be there for years. No," she slapped the arms of her chair with open palms and got up to walk out the door, "I'll just threaten her with a horrible death and demand to know what her intentions are. That should do it."

Willow was left there gaping, her mouth opening and closing like a fish's, as Dawn stormed out of the office, wondering what the hell had just happened.

…

Dawn found her sister sitting in the teacher's lounge, her eyes closed and holding a cup of coffee. There were two other Watchers working on lesson plans in the room as well and they both stood up respectfully as she entered. Buffy just opened her eyes slightly and smiled.

"Anne," Dawn addressed her, conscious of their audience, "do you have time to talk to me for a minute? I want to hear about some of the girls you're working with."

"Of course, Ms. Summers," Buffy said politely, though her eyes were twinkling.

The two walked out of the lounge and down the hallway, maintaining their composure in front of the passing students and teachers. When Dawn reached an open classroom, thankfully a shielded magick one, she politely ushered Buffy in ahead of her and closed the door behind her. As the door clicked shut, engaging the shielding on the room, she rounded on her sister.

"Alright, young lady," she put her hands on her hips and took an aggressive stance, "Just what is going on?"

"What do you mean?"

"Don't give me that innocent look, Buffy. It didn't work on mom and it's not going to work on me. Now tell me what happened between you and Willow."

"No."

"No?" Dawn shook her head, "What do you mean, no?"

"I mean no, I'm not going to discuss it with you right now."

Dawn eyed Buffy. She'd gotten, over the years, used to judging how far she could push Buffy. When Buffy had come into the room she'd been open and willing to joke around. But the Buffy that faced her now was different. She wasn't angry, in fact she was still smiling, but her eyes were set and her tone was firm.

"Can I ask why?" Dawn had learned a few tricks of her own over the years. Maybe she could get some indirect information out of her.

"Because it's something I should discuss with her, first."

Crap, Dawn pouted internally, there wasn't really anything she could say to that.

"You're not going to hurt her, are you?" Dawn settled down a bit, at least Buffy was answering her seriously and not blowing her off. "She's been through a lot lately, Buffy. She and Kennedy had this knock down, drag out before Kennedy went pouting off back to South America."

"Why?" Buffy's blue eyes narrowed.

"You know how Kennedy never liked her magick? I think she just didn't like how Willow was more powerful than her," Dawn snarked, then got back on track, "But anyway, she went on this whole thing about how Willow was being selfish by wanting to leave to study. Then she chased after her to England when she left. After the blowout, at which I was unfortunately not present, she left and hasn't talked to Willow since."

"Willow hasn't even really dated since then, Buffy," Dawn told her sister, her face sober, "I don't want to see her go through something like that again."

Buffy nodded, acknowledging her concerns, then she said, "Thank you for looking after her, for looking after all of them, while I've been gone. I felt better, honestly, knowing you were with them."

"Well…I…," Buffy had never thanked her for anything like this before.

"You were always a strong person, Dawn, in some ways stronger than me. You adapted and thrived in some situations that would have driven other people crazy."

Dawn felt like there was a vice on her chest. All she'd wanted for so long was her sister's acknowledgement, her approval. Now she had it and she didn't know quite how to react. She was so used to fighting with Buffy. This was just strange.

"You don't have to worry though," Buffy went back to their original topic of conversation, like she hadn't just knocked Dawn's world off kilter, "I don't plan on hurting Willow. I have promises to keep."

……………………….

Author's Note:

TA DA! (pause, then crickets in the background) Oooookay then, I'll just go back to my desk then, shall I.

Hope you like the latest chapter in this little story and I eagerly await you're reviews, as always. I got a few people asking about the whole Dawn and Buffy talk and wondering if they'd missed it or something. You didn't miss it, 'cause I hadn't written it yet! But now I have, so here you go.

Dawn and Buffy's little heart to heart actually was inspired by my own relationship with _my_ older sister. We're a few years apart and fought like cats and dogs when we were growing up. But the minute we weren't living together and I had grown up enough to stop acting like the bratty sister we got along great. She's now my best friend and someone I admire greatly. I saw a lot of myself in Dawn's character.

For those hoping for a little more action, hold your horses, it's coming up. I love writing action scenes actually, they're really fun. Also, omake next chapter. Now I bid you goodnight because I have to get up at an obscenely early time tomorrow.


	20. Chapter 20

Disclaimer: So tired...not mineeeeeeee!

...

_Chapter 20_

"Girls, if I could have your attention please," Marjorie, the leader of the squad of seniors that were accompanying the little Slayers addressed the group.

Buffy stood to the back of the room. This was the seniors show. They set up the patrol from start to finish and they were supposed to deal with the kids. Buffy and the other full Slayer, who hadn't arrived yet, were only there to evaluate everyone and to take over if an emergency happened.

Marjorie finally got everyone's attention and Buffy politely turned to listen as the other full Slayer walked through the door. The three young Slayers and the three senior Slayers stared, wide-eyed. Faith stood, smirking, in the doorway. Her eyes wandered over the occupants of the room causally until they landed on Buffy. With a full grin on her face the Head Slayer sauntered over to her and stuck out her hand.

"I'm Faith, nice to meet ya'."

"Anne," Buffy responded, taking the proffered hand in her own. "I've been looking forward to meeting you."

"Likewise," Faith nodded decisively, liking what she saw in Buffy's eyes, and then turned to Marjorie, "Hope you don't mind but I brought along a friend. She's gonna' meet us at the van."

"Alright," Marjorie visibly shook herself to get rid of the awe of being in the Head Slayer's presence and focused on her job.

In a few moments ass of them were headed out the door, Buffy and Faith bringing up the rear.

"So, how you liking it here?" Faith asked innocently.

"It's good. The students are well trained," she looked Faith in the eyes. "You've done a fine job with them."

"I try," Faith shrugged indifferently, but Buffy could tell she was pleased.

They walked out the back door of the main building, where the van was waiting for them in the drive. The bright fluorescent lights made the fifteen passenger van's gleam dully. They also spotlighted the curvy, slightly mousy looking woman who was leaning against it, waiting for them.

"Everybody, this is Lucky, my second," Faith waved a hand in the air casually as they all piled into the vehicle, "Lucky, this is everybody."

"Hey."

"What's up?"

"Hi."

The girls greeted her while taking their seats, Buffy just nodding as she passed. The other Slayer was staring at her, slightly wide-eyed. Then Faith was closing the door behind them and they were off.

Marjorie took some convoluted path through the deserted streets of Cleveland, it was 2 am and no one was out but cops, criminals, and Slayers. The criminals were unlucky if they met up with the van full of demon hunters and the van had government plates and was being driven strictly within the speed limit. Apparently Buffy's penchant for reckless driving was a personal issue, not a Slayer motivated one.

The group was heading for the warehouse district. Like every warehouse district in a major city this one was cramped, had a lot of hiding places, and was deserted at night. It was a perfect breeding ground for demons and vampires. The area was pretty regularly patrolled by the Academy, however, and so wasn't too dangerous. They only expected to encounter a few vamps tonight, maybe a low level demon or two. Exactly what the newbies needed to practice on.

Majorie parked the van in an "abandoned" warehouse, which was actually owned secretly by the Council. The girls all jumped out, looking excited but maintaining their silence like they'd been told. They lined up quickly at the back of the van and their weapons were issued to them out of the hidden compartment in the floor. It was standard for all Council vehicles.

The younger girls were all given stakes and a bottle of holy water and the seniors took a variety of swords, as well. Everyone was issued a cross at enrollment at the beginning of school, regardless of their religious preference. Students were taught a variety of weapons and usually began specializing in one type or another by their senior year. By the time they were full Slayers they usually had one or two favorites they always used.

Faith pulled the Scythe out, causing a few looks of awe and envy from the girls who'd never seen it before. It was still a legend among the Slayers and Buffy had felt the pulse of it's presence in the van all the way up, but she merely flicked out the stake she always kept up her sleeve, satisfied with that. It was Lucky's set of weapons that drew Buffy's attention. None of the three full Slayers were wearing any armor, though the students were dressed in partial protection, but Lucky pulled a long, padded gauntlet onto her left arm.

Over it she wrapped a long, skinny chain that had razor sharp blades tangled about it. Attached to the end was a wooden stake that had been cored down the middle and filled with lead, to weight it down. She let the stake dangle and then flipped it smoothly up into her hand a few times to check the balance. Around her waist she wrapped a sword belt that carried a rapier for her right hand.

"It's enchanted," Lucky told the other woman, catching her looking curiously at the chain, "Willow did it herself. It cuts everything but Slayers."

Buffy nodded, having solved the mystery of how Lucky used the dangerous thing. She hoped she'd get a chance to see her use it. The other Slayer was obviously ambidextrous to be able to wield both sword and chain at the same time and Buffy figured it would be an impressive display. With the extra full Slayer along, Marjorie made the decision to split the group into threes, one little Slayer, one senior Slayer, and one full Slayer to a group. They would meet back at the van close to dawn. The group all nodded good luck to each other and the spread out to hunt.

Buffy signaled Marjorie and then faded into the darkness, leaving her and their little Slayer, Samantha, to their work. She would watch from the sidelines and not interfere unless she absolutely had to. Buffy had initially found her position rather odd. She was so used to being the one up front that had to protect everyone, the front line gal, and, in a way, she still was. But so much had changed over the years. Five years ago she would have never stood back like this and just watched. But she had to teach them to do it on their own. That job, and many others, were her's now.

...

Author's Note:

Sorry, sorry, sorry for the delay. This scene is actually part of a much larger one that has been a real # to write. I finally made the decision to release this scene so you guys could nibble on it till I get the rest finished. We've also gotten a bunch of new horses in and I've been having fun trying them all out. Not to many bruises this time, either. YAY!

I've been previously referring to the graduated Slayers as Senior Slayers but this chapter I needed to refer to the almost graduated ones as seniors, so I made it lower case and referred to the graduated ones as full Slayers this time. Just so there's no confusion (if you understood that you are a better person than me!).


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 7

Disclaimer: But…but…but…but Mommy, I want it!!

This chapter is rated M.

……………

_Chapter 21_

Buffy yawned slightly, feeling the rising of the sun in her bones. It was still pitch black out but it would be coming up soon. It had been a rather good night, she had spent it watching over her pair as they'd worked their way through their patrol area.

Both were really quite good, though Samantha tended to be a bit hesitant about engaging the enemy. Marjorie had done a good job of coxing her though. She had kept her voice calm as she admonished the girl and was sure to praise her when she did well. She would be a good teacher one day.

The group had encountered about five vamps that night, a rather good haul. But the sun was about to come up and it was time to go home again. The remaining demons would go underground and the Slayers would return to their Academy, leaving the area for the humans to come in and work during the day.

As they approached the warehouse where they had parked the van the two younger Slayers seemed to relax, laughing and joking a little more. Buffy, however, grew even tenser. Something was wrong. Something was different. So, leaving her charges as they walked closer to the warehouse, she slid quietly into the night.

…

Faith smiled slightly at Lucky as they entered the warehouse where the van was stored. If anyone had told her years ago that she would be happy to have another person's support she would have laughed in their faces. But the truth was she'd been a little nervous about tonight's meeting with Buffy.

She and her squad, who were the Council's troubleshooters, had been put on assignment when the older Slayer had arrived in Cleveland. Willow had sent her a private communiqué via magick with the information. To say she'd been caught by surprise had been an understatement.

It seemed to be going pretty good so far though. There had been no insults flying, no fights to the death. Buffy had even complimented her. Of course, they'd been in front of the students and hadn't really been able to talk, but Faith was trying to look on the bright side of things.

She looked around the large warehouse, seeing the van sitting in the darkness, looking for Buffy's team but seeing nothing. They must be running a little behind. She heard her girls giggling behind her and then she realized what was bothering her. It was too quiet, there weren't even the usual night sounds. Then she caught a soft pfft! sound and looked over to see her two student charges drop to the ground.

Faith found her body reacting without thought, dropping and rolling behind a garbage barrel. She frantically looked up to see Lucky's girls down as well and Lucky standing out in the open, her left hand raised and a tranquilizer dart partially embedded in her gauntlet. She was wavering slightly so the dart must have nicked her. Faith wondered what the hell was in those things that would take down Slayers so fast, even without a full dose.

She found herself almost surging forward to help Lucky but stopped herself. She couldn't do shit if she got knocked out. Faith looked around, the warehouse was dark and murky even to her Slayer sight. The ceiling was crisscrossed with rafters and she couldn't see any movement to indicate a sniper. These guys were good.

Her position sucked, she decided as she looked around. The bad guys had the high ground and she was stuck crouching behind a damn trashcan! Her Slayers senses weren't the best, but Faith knew she should be able to feel if there was anything demonic close enough to be shooting darts when she concentrated hard enough and since she couldn't it must mean they were dealing with humans. That jibed with their tactics as well, demons didn't usually take the far off approach.

That made the situation even trickier. Where she would be able go full out against a vamp or a demon she would have to check herself while dealing with humans. She had no interest in killing off another human being, even if it was an accident. She had enough guilt to last her a lifetime, thank you. The van wasn't to far away tough and Faith was considering making a break for it and using it as a battering ram when the whole thing blew sky high.

"OH SHIT!" She yelped as she was rocked back for the force of the blow, pathetically grateful for the meager protection provided by the trashcan. The Slayer shook her head to get rid of the ringing in her ears, lucky she healed real fast or else she might not have any eardrums left. She ducked back around the trashcan in time to see something very strange.

Two teams of men, suited up in full tactical gear and armed to the teeth ran in the back door of the warehouse, skirting the flames. They were obviously using the distraction provided by the bombed van to grab up the downed Slayers. Having already been knocked down and out by the tranquilizers the girls could offer no resistance. Two men from each team gathered the girls up while the third man kept watch, weapons raised.

"Found a big one, boss!" she head one of them yell, "Whatya' want I should do with her?"

"Take her out," was the reply, "we don't have the facilities to transport more of them. Besides, the boss likes young ones!"

Faith growled low in her throat and prepared to launch herself forward. She wasn't going to loose Lucky, not like this. Then the man was lifted up in the air by a hand through his chest. For a moment no one spoke, shocked by the horrible crunching, ripping sound and then the small hand that held his heart tightened, destroying it between her fingers. Then the man exploded into dust, the necklace around his neck clattering to the ground.

"They're not human," Buffy stated calmly as she brushed her hands off, her eyes glowing gold. "The snipers are taken care of so you can stop playing dead," she winked down at Lucky, "and you can come out here and join the fun, Faithy."

"Faithy?" Faith sauntered out, indignant, "What the hell is that?"

The answer was cut short as Lucky's chain shot out and wrapped around the neck of a vamp that was overcoming his shock and turning to aim his weapon at Faith. With a snap of her hand the razor sharp edges tore through his neck, separating his head from his body. He burst into dust and caused the rest of his team to explode into motion, going after the Slayers.

Buffy was quite impressed with the teamwork displayed by Faith and her second. The two had obviously been working together for a long time now. They seemed to know each others every move and often seemed to move as one single weapon of mass destruction.

Faith utilized the Scythe like an extension of her own body, using both the axe end and the stake end equally. Her fighting style was still powerful, showing the overwhelming force of her Slayer strength. She wasn't as impulsive and wild as she'd once been, however, showing that the years had taught her some caution. She had become an excellent fighter.

Lucky was a wonder to watch. Buffy had heard of chain weapons and even seen one are two, but the one being employed now was obviously in the hands of a master. The weapon cut through the air, making a harsh whistling sound, and Lucky used her whole body to keep it going. Whipping forward it would lop off a limb or a head or sending the stake end to plunge into a heart, causing the vampire to turn to dust. As she brought it back to herself she would wind the excess length around her free hand or a foot, even her neck once, to keep the momentum going, never letting it stop. The rapier remained at her waist but Buffy had no doubt she could wield it with equal skill.

The fight didn't last long, even the tranquilizer guns didn't give the vampires an edge once the Slayer's knew they were there. When it was over Faith and Lucky were standing in the middle of six piles of dust, having killed all five remaining vampires. Buffy was leaning over one of the students, checking her breathing. She would be fine.

"Thanks for the help, B!" Faith snarked, swinging the Scythe onto her shoulder.

Buffy flicked her eyes to Lucky, but the other Slayer merely regarded her steadily. Faith had obviously told her about Buffy's real identity. Buffy didn't really mind though. Anyone who had earned the rebellious Slayer's trust must be a very special person.

"Did you need my help?" She asked instead, standing back up.

"Well…"

"My two took out the snipers and the other team," Buffy merely cocked her head and gazed off into the distance, ignoring the glare from Lucky, "I told them to wait in the building next door when they were finished. If you guys would mind picking them up and then calling for a retrieval team, I have some unfinished business to take care of."

"Wait a minute," Lucky stepped in front of her, her green eyes narrowed in irritation. Her bookish appearance obviously belayed a rather sharp temper. "You saved me and I'm grateful, but you can't just leave right now. We have things to take care of."

"Yes, Elspeth Harsgrove," Buffy turned her intimidating golden eyes on the other woman, "We all have things to take care of. You're job is to take care of these girls and Faith, a job on which I congratulate you for attaining, and my job is to leave right now."

"How the hell…?" Did you know my name, she finished the thought in her head as Buffy turned and walked out of the warehouse, nodding at Faith as she left.

"Well, she's not like you described her," she turned to Faith.

"She ain't exactly how I remembered her, either," Faith scratched her head for a moment and then shrugged. Buffy was right about one thing. There was still shit to be taken care of.

………………………

Author's Note:

Finally, I got it out! Hope you like it. Thanks for the reviews. I'm off to go collapse now.

Omake:

Friend #1:What's you're problem?

Author: I'm having issue's.

Friend #1: What about?

Author: I couldn't get this chapter out as fast as I want.

Friend #1:Why not?

Author: Ponies are evil!!

Friend #1: Huh??

(My life is strange...stupid kicking ponies!)


	22. Chapter 22

Disclaimer: Okay, I've accepted it, it's not mine. (crossed fingers behind back -suckers!)

...

Chapter 22

Willow was pounding away on her laptop in her room. She was supposed to be sleeping right now, but it wasn't working. She had worked all night and while her body was exhausted, her mind just wouldn't shut up. So here she was, dawn approaching, with her dry eyes opened and glued to the screen.

She honestly had no idea what she'd gotten done today. The Academy hadn't fallen down though, so she must not have done anything _real_ bad. _Goddess_, she swore at herself as she sat back and rubbed at the bridge of her nose, _you can't keep doing this to yourself_.

It hadn't gotten better after a second conversation with Dawn either. The younger woman had merely come back with a dazed expression and absolutely no information.

"You weren't hallucinating," Dawn had told her and then wandered off, lost in her own world.

"Like that did me a fat lot of good," Willow muttered darkly, "Maybe I should get some ice cream…or some sleep…"

"Sleep's probably better for you."

"Yeah, probably…Holy Hannah!" Willow spun her chair around, jumping up to find Buffy sitting on her window ledge, watching her with golden eyes.

"Did I ever mention how that was a little wiggy…with the eyes, I mean," Willow tried not to hyperventilate.

"Oh?" Buffy jumped off the window sill and sauntered in.

"Yeah, I know you don't do it often and it kind of came with the whole super-superpower deal that you got, but it kind of reminds me of this nightmare I had senior year where you turned into a vampire. Only, your eyes aren't really yellow like a vampires' are…they're kind of gold…and…and…I'm tired and feeling kinda crappy and confused and I'd appreciate an explanation for last night." Willow found herself letting everything out in one breath and then she stood there, shaking.

"Why don't you sit down, Wills," Buffy gave her a concerned look, her eyes going back to normal. "You look a little tired."

"I don't want to sit down, Buffy!" She wailed to her friend, "I want to know why you kissed me last night!"

"Okay."

"Because…wait…okay?" All her anger put on abrupt hold, Willow deflated.

"Sure," Buffy shrugged and went over to sit on the bed. "I figured after Dawnie cornered me that we'd have to talk. I just didn't have time before this. Actually, I don't really have time right now…but you're Willow, so I can make it."

"What's wrong?" Willow was starting to get concerned. Come to think of it, Buffy was supposed to be on patrol right now.

"Somebody with some pretty good charms and some tranquilizer darts sent a group of vamps after the Baby Patrol tonight."

"WHAT?!" Willow stepped forward, eyes wide, "Goddess, Buffy, we've gotta' go…"

"Faith, Lucky, and I stopped it," Buffy waved her off, downplaying her role in the rescue. "The problem is that if they've coordinated this strike with others…"

"Jeepers…," Willow sat down on the bed next to Buffy, "I've got to get on the phone right now."

"We've got a bit of time. I stopped by Gile's office on the way here and got him on it."

"Good," Willow felt a little better knowing there was a Scoobie on the job.

"Mmmm, looks like those guys I was looking for decided to jump to the next level." Buffy tapped her lip with one finger. "I just can't figure out what they're after. Their not killing anyone and they have to know this is going to attract our attention."

"I don't know, Buffy," Willow sighed, her mind felt like mush right now. "We'll have to be careful though, these guys don't seem to be your normal 'take over the world' baddies."

"Not so much. Man, it almost makes you miss the days when all we were facing was weird bug teachers."

"Poor Xander," Willow snorted, feeling herself begin to giggle hysterically. Laughing, she overbalanced and fell sideways onto the bed. Her breath caught as Buffy looked down, leaning over her.

"You should sleep," Buffy reached out and sifted her fingers through Willow's hair. For some reason Buffy looked very different tonight, almost predatory. "You're tired right now. You've been up to long. Giles and Dawn can coordinate the investigation for a while."

"What about you?" Willow felt as if she was caught on the cusp of a dream.

"I should probably bust down a few doors, but somehow I get the feeling these guys are a little more on the high end side. I doubt I'll find anything at the local demon bar."

"No, I don't think you will either," Willow murmured, her eye's caught in Buffy's. She'd been so tense and nervous before and now she felt all soft and fluffy, like a cloud. Buffy was still leaning over her, smiling softly and running her fingers though Willow's hair. She could almost…fall…asleep………now………….

"Wait a minute!" Willow sputtered and sat up so fast she almost knocked heads with Buffy. "You're not getting out of this _that _easily, girlie! I still want answers here."

"Alright, alright," Buffy straightened up, holding her hands up innocently, "Get yourself settled and I'll talk."

"That's more like it," Willow stated, nodding her head decisively, "More talkage, less with the hair playing stuff."

"Are you sure?" Buffy chuckled darkly and moved in.

"Uhhhhh…?" Once more Willow found herself scrambling for words. "What are you doing exactly, Buffy?"

"Doing?" Buffy cocked her head slightly, "Why, I'm courting you, of course. I have to admit, I kinda like it. I've never had to do it before. I've always sort of fallen into relationships."

"C..c..courting me?!" Willow wondered where Buffy had learned such an old fashioned word, much less what it meant.

"Bet ya' didn't know I knew what it meant, did ya'?" Buffy looked so happy with herself Willow had to smile.

"No! Well…a…no," Willow tried to look for a way not to insult her friend and ended up just hanging her head.

Buffy stood up and began pacing back and forth on the carpet, her steps hurried and jerky. Every few seconds she would look over at Willow as if she were trying to figure out how to start the conversation.

"Are you okay, Buffy?"

"Hmmm, oh yeah, just a little twitchy. Thanks for asking."

"No problem," Willow replied, "Wanna talk about it?"

Buffy was silent for a moment, making Willow think she wasn't going to answer, and then she said, "You know that question Faith asked me back when we first met?" Willow just stared at her friend, confused. "The one I answered with yogurt."

"Yogurt?" Willow furrowed her brow, mumbling under her breath, "Yogurt...yogurt…yogurt…oh YEAH, YOGURT. That was when she asked you about whether you got hungry or horny…after…Slaying…oh dear." She peered over at Buffy. "Really?"

Buffy looked over at her and grinned, "Well, when I said that _everything_ was ten times more intense, I meant _everything_. Somehow though, these sorts of things never end up in any of the Watcher's journals. So until Faith came along, I thought it was just me. Silly stuffy guys in tweed," Buffy crinkled her nose, "They never give any of the really good advice, like how to get ichor out of silk. Course, I guess I can understand it, it's not like Giles is the type of person I would talk about that sort of thing with."

Willow's eyes went wide at the image of Buffy sitting Giles down to tell him that she felt extremely…amorous…after dusting some vamp. He would just blink and clean his glasses and probably go into some lecture about how one must endure the trials of being a Slayer. She began giggling out loud at this picture. Poor Giles would be traumatized for life.

"What?" Buffy asked.

"I'm sorry. I just had this vision of what Giles would do if you actually had this conversation with him!"

Buffy laughed, "He'd so totally freak!" She got an evil look on her face, "Maybe I should discuss it with him later…"

"Buffy!" Willow looked at her friend in horror, even though she'd been thinking the same thing. "That would be horrible!"

"Fun though," Buffy wiggled her eyebrows, then sighed, "Unfortunately, there's nothing I can do about this right now…"

"Well…you could…you know," Willow's face got all red and flustered, "go find s.someone…"

"Willow, are you trying to be my pimp?"

"Pimp?! Oh no, I.I.I just meant that you could…I'm just gonna shut up now," Willow mumbled as Buffy laughed hysterically, clutching her sides.

"Oh Wills," Buffy reached out and hugged her, "I love you, you know that?"

Willow just whimpered inside her head, all the while enjoying the closeness of her friend in ways she knew she shouldn't be. Just enjoy it while you can Rosenburg, she told herself and settled against her friend, enjoying her warmth.

Oh crap, Buffy thought to herself, I've done a bad thing now. She knew better than to do something this stupid. She had pulled Willow to her out of instinct born of years of friendship and now she had to deal with the consequences. She had been restraining herself in extremely hard ever since her arrival in Cleveland, especially around Willow. She knew her friend wasn't yet ready for what had to come. She herself had had two years to prepare for it and still she'd been hit harder than she'd thought when she'd seen the redhead. That one time when she'd unleashed her power in the cafeteria had almost caused her to loose control completely. Now, here she was, holding the person that had been on her mind the most in the past two years tightly against her and she was in an extreme state of randiness.

Her arms tightened around the redhead and she buried her nose into Willow's hair, inhaling deeply. Bad, bad idea a part of her yelled, while a bigger part of her reveled in it. She wanted to wallow in the scent, to rub herself up and down the witch in an effort to imprint the scent all over herself and in turn spread her own all over Willow.

"Are you sure you're okay, Buffy?" Willow asked, concerned.

Buffy stiffened and drew away a bit, still keeping the other girl close, but not laid up against her. There was no way she was going to be able to keep this up until the rest of the Scoobies got to Cleveland. "I'm okay, Willow. But you asked for an explanation and you deserve one."

"I told you how I traveled to Master Shin's, getting training on how to control my physical strength and that was true, but I also had to learn to control my other powers," Buffy's voice was low and introspective. "Slayers don't just get the super healing and the strength and speed, you know that. There's other stuff that comes with the package and it got beefed up, too."

"You're dreams?" Willow asked.

"Yeah, my demon sensors got an upgrade as well, but that was just like dealing with my strength. Practice, practice, practice, you know. The dreams though, those were much different." Buffy got a haunted look on her face. "When I got hit by that stuff, on the edge of the crater, and it first knocked me out, I got a lot of flashes."

"Why didn't you tell us?" There was no judgment in Willow's voice, but it was tough.

"It was like…," Buffy tried to figure out a ways to explain it that Willow would understand, "It was like I got this massive download of information into my brain. I got flashes of information when I needed it, but nothing overall really useful. I was so focused on trying to get my strength and stuff under control that I sort of pushed it to the side, but eventually it came out to play. I had to figure out what it was and it took me about two years just to sort through it all."

"So what happened?"

"Well you see, those flashes in the beginning, they were Slayers lives. All those that had come before me, all the way back to the Original. I lived each one of their lives. The things that they loved, I loved. The things that they hated, I hated. The things that they knew, I knew," she drew in a breath, "and then I lived their deaths. It was horrible, I died, over and over and over again, in some really…I mean _really_ nasty ways."

"Goddess, Buffy," Willow gasped and, giving in to impulse, pulled her to her side.

"I…I…died so many times, Wills," Buffy broke down and sobbed into Willow's shoulder. She finally had a safe place to lay down her burdens. "I was stabbed and shot and bit and torn apart…I was even burned up a few times, it was horrible." She made an effort to recover.

"I mean, there were a few time I actually lived a few years. There was this one girl in China that almost lived as long as I did and the only reason she actually went down was because her Watcher betrayed her, asshole. But usually I didn't last so long. There was one poor girl that didn't even last 24 hours before a vamp got her. She had no idea what was going on when she died." Buffy drew away from Willow and wiped her eyes, sniffing, then continued. "But that wasn't the crazy part. Wills, I didn't just live the lives of the past Slayers, I did the same thing with the new ones as well."

Willow's eyes went wide with shock. "You mean all the new ones…like the ones that I Called when I did the whole…woooo spell thingy with the Scythe?"

"Yep," Buffy confirmed, "every single one of them."

Willow's thoughts were moving a mile a minute. "I can kind of do the same thing. I can figure out where they are and when one dies or is Called, I know. I figured it was just a result of the spell that I had cast, like a side effect or something. But if you can do it too, only more, well that's just…just…I have no idea!" Willow threw her arms up in the air and wailed in frustration.

Buffy chuckled. Willow always did like to be able to figure things out first. "I didn't either. The only thing I could guess was that it was an aftereffect of the spell, like you said. Then I started having these visions. It was the First Slayer, the Original, she kept coming to me."

"You mean the one that came after all of us after Adam's spell, the one with all the crazy face paint and the…the cheese man that followed us around and tried to kill us, that Original?" Willow tried not to get seriously wigged out. "She wasn't after you cause of the spell, was she? Because technically I was the one that cast it and if she's gonna get mad at somebody and like, kill them, it should be me, shouldn't it? You didn't really have anything to do with it, aside from the whole, you know, idea and all…"

"Breathe, Wills." Buffy set her finger across Willows mouth, making her stop. "Good, now to answer you, no, she wasn't upset about the spell and she wasn't trying to kill me. In fact, it was almost like she'd known it was coming and I think she was rather happy about it, as happy as a woman in body paint and a loincloth can be anyway." Buffy frowned again, "She sort of danced around for a bit, grunting something. So she was either really happy or very constipated. I'm gonna go with happy, it's less ewww."

"Fair enough."

"Yeah, so then she kinda explained what was going on and that sorta freaked me out even more."

… (flashback)

_Buffy watched the Original prance about the desert, shaking her stake at the sky in what could only be victory, in complete bemusement. I thought she'd be all crazy with the "you are alone" crap again, she thought to herself. Maybe she's learning? Abruptly the Slayer spun about and shuffled back to her. I think if we could get her to the right salon she could probably turn out very pretty under all that mud, she mused to herself. Maybe get her nails done and definitely a pedicure is in need. Her thoughts were cut off as the Slayer took the stake she was always carrying around and shoved it into Buffy's hand._

_"What?" Buffy looked at it in confusion, "I already have one of my own, thank you. His name is Mr. Pointy." The Slayer frowned at her and Buffy pouted, "Oh please, like you never named your stake. Besides, why would I want this thing?"_

_"Yours," the Slayer grunted, "Mine before, now yours."_

_"Well it's lovely and all but," Buffy gasped as the Slayer put her finger in the middle of Buffy's forehead and pushed._

_**Mine before**__, the Slayer's voice echoed in her head, __**yours now, all yours.**_ _All those lives went rushing through her mind again and the knowledge that went with them. __**My time is over. They are yours to guide now, yours to watch over, yours to guard.**__ And then her real headache began. Screaming she was thrust out of her body and into the cosmos. For a moment she saw everything as it really was. Everything from the Powers That Be and the reasons behind their decisions down to the lowliest flea and it's struggle to survive. It went on and on and yet it seemed to last but a moment and when she snapped to the Slayer was standing over her with a sympathetic gaze._

_"Mine before, all yours now," she said and began to walk back into the desert from whence she had come, her burden gone. _

_"Hey," Buffy jumped up and went after her. When the Original turned, Buffy shoved the stake into her hand._

_"Yours now," the Slayer grunted, trying to put it back._

_Buffy held up her hands, "I get the whole burden thing and I'll take it on, but that's yours. You've had it for a long time and I know I always hate to be without mine," the Slayer looked down at the well worn piece of wood in her hand, conflicted. Buffy put her hands over the other woman's, securing the stake in her grasp. "Besides, you never know when you could use a good stake."_

_The Slayer looked up at Buffy and for the first time in all their meeting together, smiled. Her grin was cheerful and she turned and began to bound off, in search of ghost vampires or God knows what. Right before she disappeared around a boulder, however, she turned and regarded Buffy with a hard look. _

_"Not alone this time," she said cryptically and vanished around the rock._

………………………

Author's Note:

Soooooooo, here ya' go. Sorry it took so long to come out, hopefully it's what you were looking for. I've been getting a lot of positive feedback along with some requests for what you guy's want to read. I like that. Just because I think I have the story plotted doesn't mean I'm not open to suggestions. That's why I post this stuff in the first place. To share my work and to grow as a writer (and did that sound pretentious or what?!).

Next chapter is gonna' be real fun, so stay tuned. Also, don't think that Buffy's revealed all her secret's yet, she's gotta lot of telling still to do!

OMAKE:

Original Slayer- grunt- here!

Buffy- I don't want it!

O.S.- here!

Buffy- That thing is nasty, get it away from me!

O.S.- here!

Buffy- Oh for God's sake, FINE!- takes the nasty demon's head – Is this a part of some ritual or something?!

O.S.- ha! ha! ha! Silly girl take head! –points and laughs, runs off

Buffy- drops head fast- Stupid Slayer humor! Get back here you dreadlocked thing from Hell!


	23. Chapter 23

Disclaimer: The goat ate it…really, he did

………

Chapter 23

"What'd she mean, you weren't alone?"

Trust Willow to narrow right in on the gritty part. Buffy had to smile at the intense look the redhead was giving her. She always had the cutest little wrinkle between her eyebrows when she was concentrating.

"I wasn't quite sure at first," Buffy answered, "There was a lot of information to sort through. I'm still going through it all actually. But basically what she…" Buffy trailed off as there was a sharp rap on Willow's door.

"Shoot," Willow grumbled and, letting go of Buffy, reluctantly began to scoot off the bed.

"I'll get it, don't worry," the Slayer waved her tired friend back into bed and got up.

"Tell them to go away," Willow flopped back on the bed and covered her face with her pillow. Then she had a thought. "Unless it's an end of the world thing. I might get up for that."

"Well it's not the end of the world," Buffy called back to her a few moments later, having opened the door, "But you might want to get up anyway."

"Why?"

"Xander's here."

"Xander!" Willow flung the pillow away and scrambled off the bed. She was bombarded with a complex group of feelings.

She was happy Xander was here, of course. She loved her Xander-shaped friend, always had. But she couldn't help the surge of annoyance at the interruption of such an important conversation or the nervousness and guilt. She was nervous because of the fact that Buffy and Xander hadn't exactly parted amicably and guilty because she felt like she was doing something wrong having this conversation with Buffy. Like they were going behind Xander's back. So she drew a deep breath and settled herself, then flung the door open to stand behind Buffy, not really knowing what to expect.

"Xander!" She repeated, smiling hugely, "I didn't know you were here yet. We were expecting you tomorrow. How are you? Come here."

Scooting past Buffy she threw her arms around Xander and hugged him close, ignoring the tension in his shoulders. "Be good," she whispered in his ear, knowing Buffy could probably hear it.

"I'm doing good, Willow," Xander murmured and hugged Willow tightly, letting the tension relax a little. He knew Buffy was here but he hadn't been expecting to run into her so fast. "We caught an early flight. How are you?"

"Oh, you know, peachy with a side of keen."

"Hello Xander," Buffy had no intention of being dismissed. She had sent Xander postcards along with everyone else, but seeing the tension in his jaw as he looked down at her she figured they weren't as well received.

She didn't really care though. Xander and she had been friends for much to long for her to allow him to get away with ignoring her for too long. She loved Xander and she knew that he loved her, despite their current issues. In the past her first instinct would have been to apologize and then overlook the problem, hoping it would just go away. All the Scoobies did it, it was their way of coping.

Buffy had come to realize through her years of introspection, however, that didn't really work. All it got them was a lot of pent up feelings and the occasional explosive argument. Master Shin had taught her it was much better to be able to confront the issue face first. He'd done that in his usual dramatic fashion. She liked the old guy but he had some weird teaching methods.

"Hello, Buffy," Xander barely glanced at her before focusing on Willow again, "Did you hear about the kidnappings?"

"So they got to some of the girls then?" Buffy asked, forcing him to focus on her.

"Buffy, Faith, and Lucky stopped them here," Willow told her friend, frowning at him in irritation. "We were waiting for news from Giles."

"I thought you were going through with this charade so that you could catch these guys?" Xander accused Buffy, scowling at her, ignoring Willow's comment.

"I am and I still think it's the best way," the blond Slayer studied her friend.

He looked pretty much the same, still tall and lanky. The years had changed him somewhat though. He was trimmer now, having lost the extra pounds that had seemed to follow him around. He was no longer a couch potato and it showed. The years also showed in the tension lines around his good eye and mouth. The stress of rebuilding the Council and then the years in Africa had imprinted themselves on his being. Buffy was glad to see he still had a sense of humor though. His eyepatch had a skull and cross-bones on it.

"What gives you the right to make any decisions, Buffy," Xander scoffed, "You abandoned us. We've been the one's taking care of these girls during the past five years and I think we've done a damn fine job!"

"I know that. You've probably done a better job than I could have. But that still doesn't change the fact that I'm in a better position to help undercover."

"What makes you think we even _need _you're help, Buffy?"

"Xander!" Willow had to interrupt as Xander sneered at the blond, he was going too far. She knew that he had harbored a lot of resentment toward Buffy for leaving like she had, but she hadn't known it was this bad.

"It's alright, Willow," Buffy stroked Willow's back as the witch stood in front of her protectively. "Xander and I have a lot of issues to deal with, a lot of talking to do. But before we can get to that," she stared Xander in the eye, letting him see how serious she was, "We need to deal with the situation at hand. To do that though, I need to explain a few things to everyone."

"Are you sure, Buffy?" Willow looked down at her with concern.

"Yeah," Buffy sighed and nodded, "everyone's here now, so it's time. If you wouldn't mind meeting us Giles' office, Xander, we'll be there shortly."

Xander stared at her for a moment, still angry. He was angry because she was back and acting like nothing was wrong and he was angry that she wasn't yelling at him like he thought she would and he was just…angry.

"Xander, please," Willow grabbed his hand and squeezed. She hated being in the middle.

"Alright, I'll listen to your story for Willow, but we're not done Buffy."

"That's fine. I'll be happy to talk to you later."

Xander snorted and turned around, shaking his head in anger and confusion over her calm reaction. She wasn't acting at all like he thought she would. The old Buffy would have been yelling or completely ignoring him, not this…whatever it was.

"Are you okay?" Willow asked Buffy as she shut the door behind Xander and turned to face her friend.

"I'm fine," Buffy assured her, "I was expecting it, to tell the truth. He's right in a way. I did abandon him and…everyone. You were my friends and a part of me thinks I should have stayed to set up the Council and to help Xander through his grief and you with your magick and everything."

Willow stood for a second. Her initial reaction was to instantly comfort the blond but there was a part of her that agreed with the statement. She had felt slightly abandoned as well. But that was the selfish part of her she had to give Buffy the truth.

"There's a part of me that wants to agree with that," Willow murmured, looking at the floor, "But there's a bigger, more mature, part of me that knows that would have been a mistake. Whether Xander likes to admit it or not, or even me for that matter, you needed to go. Not just for the power situation, though that was crucial, but for yourself as well. We all went through Hell in Sunnydale, Buffy, but you especially. You needed some time to just be you and we needed the time apart to cool down and grow up." She said the last with a small smile and a shrug.

"Thank you," Buffy slipped her arms around the startled redhead, pulling her close. "Thanks for understanding."

"Okay," Willow sniffled after a little while and pulled herself away from the temptation that was Buffy Summers. "We've got some people to meet and some 'splaining to do."

"Right, let's go," Buffy reached up and placed her lips on Willows', giving her a slow, sweet kiss, "But don't think I've forgotten about you. We need to finish our conversation, young lady."

"'Kay," Willow gulped and allowed herself to be dragged out of the room by her hand.

…………………………….

Author's Note:

As some of you might have noticed I have begun posting this story over at Twisting the Hellmouth. I am editing it and adding in details and such, if anyone cares to go partake. My author name over there is still the same. I hope you all are happy with the newest chapter to this story, it just sort of rolled out of my head (it's kinda weird up there).

Next chapter should be up soon!


	24. Chapter 24

Disclaimer: I got a new puppy. She's so cute!! Oh yeah, I don't own Buffy either.

...

Chapter 24

Buffy gazed at the people that were seated around Willow's large office as she and Willow entered. They had decided to meet there as it was the most private area in the school. Giles was seated in a large, tall-backed chair, his steady gaze a comfort. Dawn had hijacked Xander and the two of them were sprawled on the loveseat that was against the wall. She seemed to be keeping him distracted with funny tales of foolish politicians that she had dealt with. Faith was leaning against the wall, glaring at Buffy as if to dare her to object to Lucky's presence in the seat before her. Buffy merely smiled at them both.

They were an odd group. If Buffy had been asked to describe a group of people _less_ likely to be charged with the safety of the world she would have been hard-pressed to come up with one. While they didn't always get along and hadn't always all been friends, they were a tight group. They had to be. There was no one else to rely on. If given the chance, Buffy knew that while she would have done many things differently. Choosing different friends wasn't one of them.

A warm smile graced her features as she greeted the group, "Hello, thanks for coming." Pulling Willow along behind her, Buffy chose two empty chairs across from the love seat. Settling in, she released Willow's hand and said, "I'm sure you've got tons of questions but before the inquisition can Willow and I have an update on the situation?"

"Quite," Giles nodded and splayed his hands out on his knees. "Just too catch everyone up. Last night the Baby group that Faith, Lucky, and Buffy were guiding was attacked by a group of vampires that acted in a rather odd manner. They were armed with tranquilizer weapons and charms that made them appear human. Their objective seemed to be the capture of the younger girls and the elimination of the older Slayers, though that seemed to be secondary."

"They were obviously well supplied with both intelligence and money, which indicates that they were merely the agents of a higher power." He turned and nodded his thanks to Faith, Lucky and lastly, Buffy as a wry grin passed over his face. "As it were, the raid was foiled, thanks to some quick thinking. We did send word out as fast as we could to the other posts. Unfortunately, they had timed the raids and other groups weren't as lucky as ours."

"What's the damage?" Xander queried, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees.

"Thankfully," Giles sighed and rubbed his forehead before continuing, "there were no casualties. The party responsible seemed only to want to incapacitate the young Slayers. The rather unfortunate part is we have lost over 20 students."

"Jesus," Faith's jaw clenched as she pushed off the wall and swore. "What the hell are we gonna' do to get 'em back?"

"We are trying to track them as we speak." Giles shot Faith a glance and replied in an even tone, "I'm checking bank accounts and looking into purchasing. We've put out feelers among the law enforcement people to see if we can trace the weapons. It's going to take a bit though. Their main objective seemed to be capture, however, so that gives us some time and a little bit of hope."

"Fuck!"

"Why didn't you stop this?" Everyone looked over to see Xander glowering at Buffy. "You were supposed to stop them!"

"Xander!" Willow chastised.

"No, Wil, not anymore," Xander cut her off and stared pointedly at his oldest friend. "I'm tired of everyone making excuses for her. She abandoned us, again." He sprang from the couch and towered over Buffy as he seethed, "And now you come running back wanting to be the hero _again_. Only this time it's not just us at stake. There are hundreds of girls depending on us for their safety. So much for being able to depend on your firends!"

Buffy met his outrage with as much tranquility as possible. Taking the verbal abuse, she let him die out as she answered his accusations as honestly as possible "I'm sorry I hurt you by leaving, Xander," Not breaking eye contact despite the effect her words were having, she softly pressed, "I wish I could have stuck around and help you guys. I couldn't. I needed…there were other things. Things I needed to do. It wasn't just for me."

She stood and gently moved Xander from in front of her. She walked around to the back of the chair Willow was sitting in and placed her hand on her friend's shoulders continuing her apology, "Not just for myself though. I had to figure out how I could help them all. I'm back because I can now. There are limitations though. I'm not omniscient and still learning. I wish I could've learned all I needed fast enough to stop them from taking the girls. I really do. But the fact is I couldn't. Now we have to figure out how to get them back."

"Perhaps if you explained what your new powers entail, Buffy," Giles, ever the peacemaker, intervened. A general round of agreement from everyone followed.

Buffy nodded, it was time. The slayer went through basically what she had told Willow, describing all the physical changes, the strength and speed, the demon senses and the rest. Faith and Lucky actually looked a little jealous about those. Then she went over the dreams and visit from the Original Slayer. She started getting some skeptical looks at that. Doggedly she went on explaining, but she didn't mention the last line the other Slayer had said to her. That was for her to explain to Willow first.

"So you're saying _you're_ the First Slayer now, B?" Faith cocked a brow at her. Lucky had remained silent, perhaps not sure where she fit in, but even she looked dubious.

Buffy nodded and tried to clarify, "Yes, but it's not what we thought it was."

"Get with the 'splainy," Dawn urged, waving her hand in the air. "I, for one, am kinda' confused. Why would the PTB's need to give you all this power? The First got her ass whooped and we've been doing fine since. There's no big army for you to take out anymore."

"You're wrong, Dawnie," Buffy stated, gazing at her friends, "There's a very important reason for them to do what they did. Listen, we thought before that the Slayer's job was to keep the vampires and the demons that got through to this dimension at bay."

"Isn't it? One girl in all the world and all that." Lucky spoke up for the first time.

"Yeah, but there's so much more to it than that. See, the Slayer line on this side, the corporeal one, was supposed to do all that. But it's the First's job to guide them and to keep the bigger demons at bay."

"Huh?" Dawn's question clearly not reflecting the time she has spent on formal education.

"The Original Slayer, the one we met before, she wasn't just the wellspring of our power. She's been guarding this dimension for centuries, all on her own."

"Guarding it from what, Buffy?" Giles asked.

"From all the really big things that try to get in here. It's like this," Buffy shaped a sphere with her hands, "Way back when, like Giles explained before, the demons inhabited this dimension and ruled everything. But they lost their grip on this reality and got shut into a lot of other different dimensions. A lot of the big ones went to sleep in the Deeper Well."

"But they didn't like that they lost control here. They keep trying to get back in. There are barriers, of course, and they keep the majority of them out. But a lot of the little ones get through. That's what we see and fight here. That's what the Slayer on this side is supposed to do, try and keep them culled down to a minimum. The First Slayer is supposed to stop the bigger ones from ever entering. Or take them out if, God forbid, they get in here. Who do you think took out that sorcerer who ascended before, the one that Anya mentioned? That was the First Slayer."

"She'd been fighting a long time," Buffy's voice became soft and distant, almost contemplative. The rest of the people in the room, even Xander, became caught up in the tale. Buffy looked up and met Willow's eyes, trying silently to impress this upon her. "She was tired…and lonely…She just wanted to be able to rest. That's why they gave me the power. That's why I accepted it. It was time for someone else to keep guard."

...

Author's Note:

I would first like to that Whedonist for taking up the cause and becoming my beta. YEAH!! Here's the next chapter, hope you guys like it. This one gives a bit more on the explanation of what Buffy has become. As always, I appreciate all comments and constructive criticism. The new chapter should be out soon but I also urge those of you who haven't to go over and check out the TTH version, as it is a lot better edited and a little more fleshed out.


	25. Chapter 25

Disclaimer: Ha! Ha! Ha! I own the WORLD! (Just not Buffy...)

Chapter 25

Giles hands splayed out on his knees as he urged everyone, "I think it would be best if we took a bit of a break now." Trying to interrupt the furious babble that was taking place around him, he stood and took the center of the room. Everyone was trying to get a word in to question Buffy.

After having finished dropping her bombshell, Giles, himself, was infinitely curious, but he thought it best to give Buffy a moment to collect herself. He also had a feeling, given the look she had just shot Willow, that there was something she hadn't told them all yet.

"But Giles…," Dawn protested.

"No," Giles shook his head, trying to get her to understand. "We all need a moment to process this. Dawn, I think you and I should check in and see what's become of our search. Faith, if you and Lucky could look in on the girls that would be greatly appreciated. I'm sure they could use some reassurance right now."

"Alright," Faith drawled, pulling Lucky to her feet in a smooth motion. "We'll go check on the rugrats. But I want an update on the search as soon as you get it."

"Of course, I'll notify you as soon as I receive anything pertinent. Should we gather back here in about two hours?"

Everyone agreed and the four with assignments rambled off, trying to ignore the tension between the three old friends left behind. Willow shifted a little, eyeing Buffy and Xander. Xander had a frown on his face and was glaring impressively at the floor while Buffy had shut her eyes and was breathing deeply.

"We should go," Buffy finally turned to Willow, "We have a discussion to finish."

"Alright," Willow nodded and glanced over at Xander. She wondered why she hadn't noticed it, the rage. She knew 'd known he was angry at Buffy for leaving, but she didn't hadn't known it was so intense.

"So that's it?" The two girls turned around to see Xander had risen up out his chair, and was glaring at them. "You just waltz in here and say you've been given _another_ grand destiny and we're supposed to feel all sorry for you? Forget about and forget about those girls that have been taken!?"

"Xander, no one's forgetting about anyone!" Willow was starting to get a bit angry herself at the unreasonableness of her oldest friend. "Giles and Dawn are looking for them right now. You know that. Why are you acting like such a dufus?"

"Me? Why isn't anyone else angry!? Why is it all forgive and forget?"

"But that's where your wrong, Xander," Willow looked at her friend with sad eyes. "It's forgive, yes, but not forget. All of us did some really bad things to each other back then. We can't just ignore it though. That's what caused most of the problems, us putting things away and ignoring them."

Willow shuffled her feet, knowing on her lower lip as she tried to make him understand, ""Now I can't say for one-hundred percent 100 sure that I've forgiven Buffy for everything, but" Willow's voice lowered, "And I certainly wouldn't blame her for still hating me a little. But…but I-it's okay though.that's okay. She's my friend and that means we'll figure things out eventually. That's what friends do, Xander. They figure things out and work through stuff."

Xander's good eye darkened and he looked at the ground in frustration. Finally he growled and shook his head roughly, dark shaggy hair flying. "I'm gonna end up the bad guy here no matter what, aren't I?"

"You're not the bad guy, Xander," Buffy spoke up. "You, out of all of us, have had to deal with all of this alone. for the past five years. Giles and Dawnie had each other, Willow and I had had ourare teachers. You've had to go it alone and I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't be there to help you grieve for Anya."

"You never liked her anyway," Xander snorted.

"I didn't trust her,." Buffy admitted, "bBut then, I didn't really trust anyone back then. She proved me wrong though. She stayed with us till the end."

"She was brave, wasn't she?" Xander almost grinned, his grief showing.

"Yes, she was. Look, we're never going solve anything by just yelling at each other. Fun as it may be," the slayer grinned saucily. "I really do want to sit down and talk with you, but I promised Will that we'd finish our talk first."

"I'm not so sure talking's going to help, Buffy," Xander seemed resigned. "I'm pretty angry right now."

"I know. But I'll tell you what my teacher told me when I told him the same thing, years ago. He said, 'tThe question isn't why you became angry, but why you choose to remain that way.' Think about that, Xander."

Satisfied, Buffy reached for Willow's hand and led her out of the office, leaving Xander to his own foul mood.

Willow sat cross-legged on the floor of her work room, trying to meditate. The room was rather small as . Sshe didn't need much and it was easier to layer shields on a smaller area. There was a circle permanently etched onto the slab flooring, pools of wax in the four directions from burning candles, and a small rug lay in the middle. Other than that the only thing in the room was a small alter set up against a wall, where incense was currently burneding.

Willow may not have a need for the tools any longer but she still found them comforting. A reminder of days past. Usually, when she came in here, it was easy to drop in a meditative state and just drift, centering herself. Today that seemed impossible., however. She just kept drifting back to the conversation that had taken place between Buffy and Xander and herself after the meeting.

Grumbling, Willow shifted and tried to regain focus. The regaining was stopped as Buffy's voice cut through, "Are you ready to talk yet?" Buffy's voice broke easily through Willow's concentration.

Willow's eyes snapped open to see Buffy watching her intently from her seated position across the mat. Her presence was a big part of the reason Willow hadn't been able to concentrate. Willow She had brought them down here after the meeting because it was the most private place she knew. Everyone knew that when she was in here there were to be no interruptions, barring emergencies. Willow was determined not to have this conversation interrupted again.

"Yeah, I guess I am,." She she answered as her legs unfolded, leaning back on her hands..

"Okay. Truth time." Buffy fidgeted with a lose sting on her pantsskirt. She looked up and met Willow's curious gaze. "Will, I…'Kay, Here's the truth then. Tthings – me things and you things - aren't what they seem. I'm not the person I was before. Changes, lots of them, ya know? , to many things have changed. But Willow, they've also changed for you. In more ways than you've dreamed possible. We both know that you've been changing You know you've been changing over the past few years, becoming something different. I can tell you what."

...

Author's Note:

I'm sorry I'm late with this. All I'll say is wedding and open bar. (If you're not old enough to drink just ignore that last sentence;)


	26. Chapter 26

Disclaimer: I don't even know anymore, everything's all blurred together

Chapter 26

"When my teacher finally decided that I was sufficiently trained. That I was no longer a danger to myself and to the world, she told me something." Willow watched Buffy nod her head in understanding as the slayer leaned back on her hands and thrust her feet out in front of herself. "She said I was a mystery she couldn't figure out. That no human should be able to exist with their magickal filter taken out, not without some major demonic or holy power. She said that she couldn't find traces of either in me. She kept saying something was missing."

"What did she mean, missing?" Buffy asked.

"She meant…well, how about I show you instead." Willow reached out both hands and Buffy scooted closer, taking them into her own. They had meditated like this before, over the years, and both settled comfortably into their breathing. Then something happened that hadn't before.

Instead of the tranquil, floating feeling Buffy usually experienced, she felt herself being pulled toward something. Instinctively she pulled back, resisting the call, but there was something familiar about it.

_Stop being such a chicken_, the witch's voice echoed through her mind. Buffy smiled a little, where before the voice had been flat and one-dimensional, now it rang full and vibrant. _Come on, let's go._

_Go where?_ Buffy sent back.

Willow flinched back a little at the power that rang in the slayer's mind-voice. There was something more there, something in the connection that wasn't usually there and seemed to call to her. She sent her consciousness forward, seeking it.

_Where are we going, Willow?_ Buffy's voice snapped her out of her daze and the feeling was snatched away.

_India, _she answered her distractedly, then focused, _we're going to India._

……… (India, 4 ½ years ago)

Buffy blinked hard once, twice and then her vision finally cleared. She cast a quick look around and down, finding herself staring out of Willow's eyes at what she assumed to be Willow's teacher. A whisper in her mind told her to relax and just be.

"Something is missing," the Naga thoughtfully said. Buffy watched transfixed as Willow's teacher's head moved back and forth in a rhythmic, hypnotic fashion. Willow blinked as her teacher's head seemed to move back and forth in a rhythmic, hypnotic motion.

Buffy's "eyes" took in her teacher's form. The naga had been a little weird even for Willow, at first. Her body was huge, reptilian shape, was nearly almost three feet across at the thickest and long enough that she didn't try to gauge it's length. The massive serpentine form weaved around, under, down and through itself, apart and so long that Willow didn't even try to guess at the length. The massive coils weaved in and out of each other, rarely ever stilling. Her scales added to the confusion. Patterned in a deep green color, they shimmered with an eye-catching rainbow hue. The only human part of the Naga was her head. Thick chestnut hair flowed crazily about as her head moved and piercing black eyes looked out at the world.

"What do you mean?" Buffy heard herself ask as a small wave of panic rushed her. Another fleeting thought echoed in her mind of being trapped in a dream where she was naked, walking into a high school class Willow started to panic a little. She was so sure she'd been doing good lately.

"You're control is excellent and you will be able to go out into the world soon, but something is still missing. It is something I have come to realize I will never be able to help you with. You will have to figure it out on your own. There is more to your magick, something tied to the Slayer Line, and that is a tangle I have little interest in meddling in."

"Soooo, you can't tell me what it is, just that something's missing?" the slayer heard herself ask, mildly confused.

"No, I can simply caution you to explore inside yourself as much as possible. If you are to reach your full potential you must discover it."

"Okay." Buffy felt her face scrunch and thought, _Jeesh_, Willow huffed, _can youshe be anymore with the cryptic??_

………… (present)

Buffy's focus finally drifted back to the present. She felt Willow pull her out of the memory. She reflected wryly to her friend, i'_YYour 're teacher seems kinda weird. _Buffy told her friend as they returned to the present with a rush. _Not quite as weird as mine, but at least mine was human.'_

_She had her own way of doing things,_Willow explained, _she wasn't always kind but she was fair. And if I had to get a part-reptile teacher, at least I didn't get a frog. What was that before, Buffy?_

_What was what? _Buffy's voice clearly not understanding the non-sequitur.

_Don't try to be all avoidy, that thing that happened when we melded. You distracted me before I could figure it out, but there was something._

_That's part of what I need to explain,_ Buffy sighed into her mind. _I didn't expect it to be quite so strong and I've been trying to ignore it, but that doesn't really seem to be working. I'll get to it later. Tell me what you discovered on your own._

Annoyed, Willow broke her bridge with Buffy by releasing her hands from the slayer's grip. Pushing down the regret at breaking off the intimate connection, she explained, "I did as she said. ," Willow explained to Buffy, breaking off the connection. It left her rather bereft for some reason. "I meditated. I thought about it, but the most I've been able to figure out is that I have a connection to The Slayer Line. I know when they die and when the new ones are called. Sometimes I get the feeling that there's something more, like a tickle in the back of my brain, but I can't get hold of it. It's like grasping at straws."

Buffy smiled warmly and affirmed, "The tickle's pretty important. But before we get in to the why of your tickle, can I tell you where it came from?" Buffy waited on Willow's nod before continuing, "Do you remember that Guardian lady that I found in the tunnels below Sunnydale, the one that told me about the Scythe?"

"Yeah, she's the one that Caleb killed before you could take him out."

"Right," the slayer nodded. "Well, it seems she didn't get around to telling me everything. Like the fact that the Scythe wasn't all they created. They helped create the Slayer."

"Eh?" Willow sat up straighter at the revelation.

A new spark lit in Willow's eyes as Buffy explained, "Seems the Shadow Men may not have liked to admit it but they needed a woman's touch. Once they completed the spell, they firmed up on a flaw in their ultimate weapon. Ever notice that magick seems to take me down just as easily as everyone else?"

"Yes," Willow hung her head. All the times Buffy had beaten a witch or sorcerer before, it had been through guile or with help. Unfortunately, she had been the one to prove that vulnerability in the most horrible manner possible.

"So did the Guardians and the Shadow Men. They both knew that the girl's body couldn't take anymore abuse. They had just poured a demon into her for crying out loud, she was almost dead. So they were of two minds in how to deal with this."

"The Shadow Men wanted to use the vulnerability to control the Slayer. Use it to control and make her rely on them for magickal assistance. The Guardians, however, wanted something completely different. They figured if they could get a girl to be able to handle a demon's powers like the Slayer, then they could create another one that could handle magick the way a demon can."

"No filter…," Willow murmured to herself in wonder. Her voice gained power as she finished Buffy's revelation for herself, "They wanted a human with no magick filter. Meaning no need for rituals or prep time. The ability to wield raw magick. Like…me…oh, you've gotta be kidding me!" Willow's eyes widened to small saucers as she stammered, "Buffy, I'm Jewish…or I was Jewish…or whatever. My parents are good, straight-laced, Jewish psychiatrists. They are not a part of some breeding program to create the perfect witch. That…that would just be silly and my parents don't do silly."

Buffy snorted in laughter at the thought of Willow's oft absent parents secretly stirring a cauldron in the basement.

"No, no, no," she chortled, "I doubt they were even conscious of anything. You know how the PTB are, subtle and tricky. And have no doubt, the PTB where a definite part of this. From me to the First coming through to you being what you are."

"What am I?" Suddenly the question seemed so important. She understood what Buffy was saying, that the Guardian's and the PTB's had messed with her life as much as Buffy's. That they had made her this powerful for a reason and that nothing was a coincidence, but a part of her wanted it spelled out.

"You're the Slayer's partner." Buffy explained, "Will, don't freak. It'll be just like Sunnydale, but uhm, only on a bigger scale." Her features softened and she tried for levity, "I mean sure you don't get a cool title like "The Slayer," but we could think of one. Maybe Wonder Witch or the Sparkler or…I don't know, something cool."

Willow sat there while Buffy wandered off into her own world, mumbling possible super hero names under breath. Willow was still caught on the whole 'super-hero' thing. She knew she was powerful, probably one of the most powerful witch's on the planet at the moment. But she had still thought of herself as human. Just some girl who had been caught up in a weird set of circumstances and come through them a little wiser and a little better off.

She looked back and suddenly understood her friend and all those girls she taught so much more. This was what it felt like to be Chosen. To realize for certain that someone out there thought she was the person they should hang the fate of the world on. That when it came down to the wire she couldn't turn the burden over to anyone else, she was all there was. It was an absolutely horrible feeling.

_Stop it, _Willow said to herself, _you've been through all this before. You've been dealing with the fact that you were different from the time you were five and could reprogram you're parents' computer. Now you just know there's a reason behind it. _In a way it eased her mind, all that mystery was now cleared up. Willow always did do better when things followed clear rules. Maybe that was why she liked math so much.

"The Dynamo!" Buffy's exclamation of triumph interrupted Willow's train of thought, snapping her back to reality.

"I don't know, Buff." She shook her head. "I don't think that quite fits me."

"Well, maybe not. But don't worry, we'll find a good name for you."

"Thank you.," Willow smiled at the reassurance, Buffy was trying so hard. Then something occurred to her. "Buffy, is the reason you're…interested in me, b-b-because of this partner thing?" Willow asked the question softly, her eyes on the ground, gesturing between the two of them.

"Is that what you think?"

"Well, I don't know," Willow managed to look her in the eyes, her confusion evident. "You never seemed to have any interest in me before…that way, I mean. Then you come back after five years and claim to be c-courting me. All after some vision quest you had with the Original Slayer. I mean it's like some weird, though very nice mind you, dream."

...

Author's Note:

I'd like to thank everyone who was patient with me waiting for this update (and even those who weren't and didn't start yelling), especially my editor. Whedonist, you rock! My computer contracted a small cold (aka, a virus) and while I was extremely lucky and didn't lose anything permanently, it did slow me down a lot. I had a horse show to prepare for as well and so couldn't get it fixed right away. But enough with excuses!

OMAKE:

Giles- What are you doing, Buffy?

Buffy- I'm making a list of super-hero names for Willow.- points to large dry-erase board

Giles- scans board- That's a lot of names Buffy.

Buffy- I'm trying to think of the perfect one.

Giles- You know, if you had been that diligent with your studies, you might have been a straight A student.

Buffy- stares- What's your point.

Giles- sighs and shakes his head- Nothing Buffy, but I doubt Willow would appreciate being called The Whammer. What does that mean, by the way?

Buffy- You know, when people get bad she puts the whammy on 'em. Magick stuff.

Giles- pause- I take back what I said about the straight A's.


	27. Chapter 27

Disclaimer: Look at all the pretty pictures, wheeeee! (no idea what i'm doing lately)

Chapter 27

"It's not a dream" Buffy affirmed. She paused to gather her thoughts and her words. This was a delicate situation and regardless of the Wiccan's age, Willow still seemed to be insecure when it came to desirability. Bracing herself, she continued, "I guess it does seem kinda fast what with the me being gone and the uh, kiss at your bedroom door." She smiled warmly and took Willow's hand back.

"A little, yeah," Willow admitted, enjoying the comfort of her friends touch. She scooched into her friend's right side and was more than a little surprised as a familiar arm wrapped around her shoulders pulling her closer.

The slayer started again, her voice hushed as she tried to explain, "I guess you might have noticed my density about the love thing. You can sorta look at my past relationships and see the neon danger sign."

The witch hesitated, hating to address this issue, but knowing it needed to be done. They had to clear up the past if they were ever going to go anywhere with this…whatever this was. She knew that Buffy, just like her, had major issues when it came to love. They were something the witch realized she had to understand for herself.

"Tell me what you mean, Buffy."

"I-I," Buffy shifted and looked down at her hands, clenching and unclenching them, "I've never really fallen in love before. It's always been more of a 'jump screaming off the side of a cliff' sorta thing. There was no normal. No real possibility of a future. I had to be 'in the moment' girl and be satisfied with that."

"I loved Angel; I still do in my own way. Being with him got me through some very tough times. It was what I needed then. Who knows what would have happened if we'd stayed together. But we didn't, we couldn't, and we both knew it. No matter what we might've promised. He went on with his life, such as it was," The slayer frowned in and shook her head. "I went on with mine. During that time though, we both changed. A lot."

"The last time I saw him I told him that I wasn't ready for a real relationship. I hadn't grown up enough and that was true. No matter how you look at it, Angel was the adult between the two of us. We weren't really equals and that's important."

"What about now?" Willow asked. "If he suddenly came back?"

Buffy gave the question the thought it deserved and then smiled gently at Willow. She had made her peace with this a long time ago. "It still couldn't happen. Our paths would still be different. Even if he got his human thing on, it wouldn't matter. I'm the one that's different now. I've finally grown up a little, finally realized a few things. Angel taught me a lot, but he's not the one meant for me."

"Alright," Willow nodded, content with the explanation for now.

"So, that was Angel. Riley, it was just the reverse with him. I was the grown up and he was the kid. His leaving was probably for the best. I liked him, but _what_ I liked about him was that he was there to lean on in a bad situation. He deserved better than that."

_He wasn't as strong as you,_ Willow thought to herself. Then she took a deep breath and moved onto a topic that had bothered her for a while. "And Spike?"

"Hmmm, how to explain Spike?" Buffy mused, tipping her head back and gazing at the ceiling. "Spike was a little bit of everything, I think. Rebellion, control, safety, danger, all rolled up into one blond-haired package. He needed me. Not to be the Slayer or his caretaker or…whatever, but just to be me. At least I thought so at the time. Everyone around me wanted to take. He seemed to be the only one wanting to give."

"We wanted to help, too." Willow protested, her eyes widening. "We tried…"

"I can see that now, Will," Buffy assured her, "But at the time we were all so messed up that none of us could see anything. What you saw as trying to help, I saw as pressure to go back to normal and ignore what had happened."

"That…may have been a little true," Willow deflated with a frown and a familiar crinkle between her brows. "We were all feeling guilty, still do. Especially about…leaving you in your grave like that. I suppose we just wanted to cover it up and go on. But you didn't seem to want to talk about it. You went clamy, bottle up girl on us. We swept it under the rug; we swept just like everything else." Her voice barely a whisper Willow pressed down regret from that year and struggled forward, "I just – I wanted you to talk to me so bad."

"Spike – Will, it was easier. There wasn't history, well there was, but not like _our_ history. He was an escape, an outsider. He was also annoyingly right at the end. I wasn't in love with him. I just loved what he provided." Buffy shifted uncomfortably on the mat, it was still hard for her to talk about all this stuff. "That's been true for pretty much every hook-up I've had. I liked what they provided me. That's not what loving a person should be about though. You should love a person for who they are, good and bad. Not what they can give you."

She ran her free hand through her hair and sighed. "So now, it's…with the dense. I didn't realize 'till we were at the hotel." She looked pointedly at Willow and noticed the blush creep up her friends face.

Willow was silent, a little stunned that her friend had figured it all out. Buffy was known for her observational skills, but they usually involved demons and killing things. She wasn't so much with the heart to heart stuff. _Of course_, Willow thought to herself remembering the scene in the hotel, _you did practically blubber all over her_.

"It took me a long time to admit it," Willow told the slayer. It was time to lay it all on the line. It had all been bottled up for so long that it was almost a relief to share it with Buffy. "Even to myself. My parents might be scientists, but they're still conservative. The word gay wasn't really even mentioned in the household. Then, when I finally admitted that I could feel that way about a girl, I had Tara…"

"Did she..?" Buffy questioned.

"Oh yeah," Willow grinned, "There wasn't much that got by Tara. She actually brought it up once, or tried to, when we were fighting in the end. I didn't want to hear it, so I just denied. I-I didn't think there was any chance of anything ever coming of it. I had Tara, was scared that you'd hate me, so making with the ignory just seemed easier."

"It was my teacher that helped me realize it was…okay to love you and Tara both. That I didn't love either of you less, just different." Willow whispered, swiping a tear from the corner of her eye. "I loved Tara and Oz and even Kennedy in her own way, but they were never you, Buffy. I loved you first and I'll probably love you till the day I die." Willow smiled a watery smile at the slayer, trying to hold back more tears. "No matter how much I sometimes want to smack you for being a stubborn, snarly poophead."

Buffy laughed, only Willow could declare her love in such a way. "Thanks Will."

"Ohhhh, you know what I mean," the witch blushed cutely.

"Yeah, I get it," chortling under her breath, Buffy finally calmed down and continued with her story. It was turning out to be not nearly as completely nerve-wracking as she'd thought it would be.

"'Kay, so…yeah, back to the question. I had to do a lot of thinking out there and one of the things that kept going through my head was how could I not've noticed you were in love with me? When did it happen? And most important, how did _I_ feel about it?"

"I'm guessing by your scrunched up expression that it's the last one that concerns you most?" Buffy stated wryly as Willow blushed wildly again and nodded. "I figured. I can't say it was an immediate, bolt out of the blue, kinda revelationy sitch. More like a gradual thingy. I didn't hate you or anything. That was the furthest thing from my mind. In fact, it made me feel all warm and fuzzy."

"Too warm and fuzzy, if you know what I mean." The slayer's grin was more of an embarrassed admission causing Willow to flush again. "Course then I had to figure out the why of that. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that not only was I okay with you loving me, I liked it."

"Buffy, are you…I mean…you've never…," Willow couldn't seem to get the words out of her mouth. "With the girls…"

"What, you think I'm completely straight?" Buffy raised an eyebrow at Willow.

"Well, aren't you?" The witch was flabbergasted. Come to think of it, they had never really addressed the subject. Willow had just _assumed. _

"I admit I usually look at guys first," Buffy said, "but that doesn't mean I've never fantasized about girls before."

"Really?" Willow felt her eyes bug out.

"Jeez, you'd think I just admitted to killing a president or something," Buffy whined.

"I'm sorry, Buffy, but you have just turned my whole world up on it's wacky little head. I honestly never pictured…" Willow stopped as a thought occurred and she squinted her eyes and gulped. "Wait, when you say fantasies…?"

Buffy's cheeks got pink and she looked up at the ceiling, smiling an innocent grin.

"Oh my god, you did! Me?!"

"What'd you expect," Buffy sputtered, "We slept in the same room for a year, and there were all those sleep-over's. It was bound to happen."

"Why didn't you ever do anything?" Willow asked. She was fascinated now. She knew Buffy was a lot bolder than she when it came to the love stuff.

"You were my friend," Buffy offered a shrug and a shy smile. "I'd never really had a girlfriend. Not a real one. Sure, I'd had the pack of Cordelias that I'd hung out with before, but they weren't real friends. They weren't people I could talk to about anything important. You were my friend," she repeated, almost to herself, "and back then I needed a friend so badly that there was no way I was going to try and mess it up."

"Oh Buffy," Willow leaned forward and pulled Buffy into her arms. She rested her chin atop Buffy's crown as the blond settled against Willow's chest.

...................Unknown Location, Unknown Time

Savoring the look of terror in the young girl's eyes Titus leaned in to brush the lock of hair that had fallen forward into her face. Sniffing, a look of ecstasy came over his face as he took in the full bouquet of her fear and terror.

"You smell so good," he crooned and his face morphed, causing the girls to cringe back and whimper.

"Titus!"

A sharp voice cracked out. The rail thin vampire jumped back, his face falling back to normal and he began wringing his hands together.

"You know what I said about touching them!"

"I know, Zeak, I-I know," Titus stuttered and turned to look up at his brother. Zeak looked down on him with fury from the catwalk where he stood. From there, he could see the warehouse spread out beneath him and his stupid brother as he almost killed off the merchandise.

"Then you remember how important it is that we keep them intact."

"But-But their all so pretty," Titus whined and began biting at his already ragged thumb nail. "C-Can't I just have one? We won't miss just one."

"No!" Zeak glared at his brother to make sure he got the idea seared into his tiny little brain. "We had to speed up the plan, so we almost didn't get as many as we needed. That means they're all essential. Now get them loaded up. The others are already on the move. We have a schedule to keep."

"Yes, brother," Titus groveled, glancing at the cowering girl out of the corner of his eye.

"And Titus," Zeak's voice intruded on his fantasy. "If I found out that you've tasted even one, I'll kill you myself. This plan is too important to screw up. One wrong step and we could destroy the world. I don't want it destroyed. I just want to rule it."

.................

Author's note:

Duhm! Duhm! Duhm! The tension mounts. Will our brave author be alive to write the next chapter or will she be overrun by the hoards of screaming fans out for her blood because she left them hanging, again.

Okay, maybe I was overstating with the hoards, but I know you're out there still. I keep getting reviews and stuff so I keep on soldiering on. We're gettin' down to the wire here and Buffy and the rest are starting to work things out, but there's still stuff to take care of. As any good author would tell you, a story is a good catharsis for one's own life. You may take that as you will.

Hello, Pegasus! (small wave)

Omake:

Willow- Buffy, about those fantasies...

Buffy- yeah?

Willow- You said that you fantasized about girls...plural, so it wasn't just me...who were the other ones?

Buffy- mutters under breath- you would catch that, wouldn't you?

Willow- What?

Buffy- loudly - I'm sorry, Will. I got a twinge on the ole' radar. I gotta' go kill...somethin'.

Willow- grimly - You can run, but you can't hide, Slayer.


	28. Chapter 28

Disclaimer: I really need to get some sleep, I'm hallucinating. It's not really mine. (sob!)

................

Chapter 28

"What do you think they're doing in there?" Dawn asked as she shifted the file of papers that she held in her arms and stared at the big "Do Not Enter" sign on the door to Willow's magick room.

"How would I know?" Xander asked, squinting at the door, wishing he had x-ray vision. "They're probably in there…meditating or something else all enlighteny."

"Enlighteny?" Dawn raised an eyebrow at Xander, who just waved his hands in the air.

"Yeah, you know. They keep acting all hoity-toity, at least Buffy does. I mean, did you see her back at in the office? She wouldn't even argue with me. The old Buffy would have hit me over the head with something by now or at least yelled a lot."

"So let me get this straight," Dawn cocked a hip and looked straight at him, "You're mad at her from before because she 'acted like a child' and ran away; now you're mad at her because she's actually acting like an adult and willing to accept her responsibilities?"

"Don't put it like that." Xander's shoulders slumped a bit. "When you put it like that, it doesn't make any sense."

"That's because your behavior i_doesn't/i_ make any sense, Xander," Dawn admonished, pushing her hair back off her forehead. "Look Xander, I get that you're mad at her. I've done the anger thing too. And just 'cause Buffy and I are talking now doesn't mean that everything between us is all puppies and kittens. We've still got some real stuff to go over. But for the first time in a long time we are talking. She's not preaching and I'm not ignoring. There's actual conversation of the adult kind being had."

"I know." Xander seemed to slump even more and his one eye bore a hole in the wood flooring beneath his feet. "It's just, at least when she was yelling I felt like I mattered to her. So when she ignores me or is calm, I-I-I don't know, it's stupid."

"I don't know," Dawn reached out and patted his arm, "Makes sense to me. Affection of the Sunnydale kind."

"Maybe," he admitted, shrugging. "But we don't have time for that now. We're gonna have to interrupt them, no matter what the sign says."

"Yeah," Dawn agreed as she turned back to the door. "This is important enough. So, what i_do/i_ you think they're doing in there?"

"I don't know. They're still hiding something, that's clear enough."

"Yep."

"I think between the two us we can badger it out of them." Xander grinned at his partner in crime.

"You should always go with your strengths." Dawn smirked and raised her hand to knock.

……………………..

"Tell me about the thing that happened earlier, Buffy," Willow asked a she ran her fingers through Buffy's hair absentmindedly. "The thing during the connection. You said you'd explain it later. What was that?"

"Okay," Buffy sniffled a little and shuffled herself around so that she was sitting with her back against Willow's front. The surprised, but happy, witch slipped her arms around Buffy's shoulders and pulled her close.

"Because we're supposed to help each other fight, there's a built in connection between us now. We used it a little bit before when I helped you heal or you took power from me to perform spells. It's what helped you raise me from the dead. But now that we've gotten more powerful, it's growing." Buffy began explaining. "I've been aware of it for a while, since the Original Slayer…showed me what everything was all about."

"That," Willow thought for a moment, "Buffy, that had to have been a while ago. You told me about that vision thingy, remember?"

"About two years ago or so," Buffy confirmed.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Willow huffed.

Buffy turned her head and looked up Willow. "Stop pouting, Will." She stroked a finger along the redhead's cheek. "You're distracting me with your cuteness. As I was saying," she ignored the blush that fired up Willow's cheeks, "I'm not in full control of my powers yet and I won't be for a while."

"Once I really open up the connection Willow, there'll be no going back. You'll have complete access to me and I, to you. What'll happen then? Even with all the knowledge I have stuffed in my head right now, I can't tell you. But I do know it'll be pretty explosive."

"I spent a long time just shuffling through memories. Memories from old slayers, new slayers and even the memories of the Original Slayer. I had a lot to learn and I still do. I-I closed that part of me off because I didn't want to come back 'till I had control. Until I could trust myself with everyone…with you."

"Silly," Willow chided, shaking her head. It didn't surprise her that that was the reason. Buffy could be very pigheaded when it came to the safety of her loved ones.

"It's not silly," Buffy grumbled, crossing her arms and sinking into Willow even more.

"It is silly," the witch told her, "but I get it. Don't like it, mind you, but get it."

Maybe it was just a flashback to Sunnydale, when she'd had to rely on Buffy to save her and fight for her, but Buffy trying to protect her felt right. It felt safe. But she still needed Buffy to view her as an equal. She knew if this relationship was ever going to work that she had to have that. She would stand for nothing less than that.

"I need you to tell me what that connection is," Willow said quietly. "I need you to show me."

"What you'll see there, Willow, it'll change you." Buffy turned and cupped her face, making Willow look her straight in the eye. "How you see the world. How you see everything."

"It's how you see things now, isn't it?"

"Yes." Buffy shifted her eyes away for a moment and whispered, "I don't always like it though."

"Then that's all the more reason for me to be there with you." Willow pulled her hands from Buffy's shoulders and placed them on her cheeks, cupping her face in return and pulling her closer. "If what you're saying is correct, Buffy, we're supposed to do this thing together. We're supposed to be together. And we can't do that if…"

Buffy sushed the plaintive voice as she leaned in softly pressing her lips to Willow's. Pulling back, she smiled and said, "I can't argue with you when you're being all logical like and batting your eyes at me."

"I am not…batting my eyes," Willow groused, slightly irritated that the kiss hadn't lasted longer so she could appreciate it.

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm…," Willow sputtered and dropped her hands, "Stop with the arguing, missy, and gimme the goods."

"You asked for it," Buffy smirked. Without warning, she gripped either side of Willow's head and swiftly pulled her forward and said, "This is a way lot more fun than how the Original showed me."

Willow caught the smirk right before Buffy's lips touched her own, sealing the connection between them.

Willow inhaled sharply, stunned by the force of the kiss. Her eyes were wide open, locked with Buffy's as their lips clashed. Willow watched with an absentminded fascination as hazel swirled to shining gold. Then her tiny magick room in the basement of the school was swept away and the entire universe opened before her.

..................

"They're not answering," Dawn pouted at the door as if it was at fault.

"Knock harder," Xander suggested.

"My hand hurts," Dawn frowned and flexed her hand.

"Move over, kiddo, and let a man work," Xander smirked and, bringing his fist up, pounded loudly on the door.

"Oh please," Dawn spat, "Like flexing your construction guy muscles is gonna impress me, Xander. I remember you when you had a doughnut belly."

"I've worked hard on my abs," Xander glanced down at his stomach and then pounded on the door again. "This is getting us nowhere. Let's just find the key."

"Only Willow has the key," Dawn shoved him aside and knelt down in front of the door, setting aside the file and pulling a small case out of her jacket pocket.

"Do you always walk around with lockpicks?" Xander watched in interest as one of the senior members of an esteemed, ancient organization proceeded to pick the lock of the door with ease.

"I learned a lot of things at college," Dawn grunted, "Willow never thought to magick the lock so we're lucky. Ooooh!" She squealed as the door popped open under her skilled hands and then nudged it inward.

"Hey, you two, stop with the meditating," Xander yelled. "We know where the bad guys…are…going…"

"I…don't think they care," Dawn's smile grew as Xander choked beside her, his eyes bugging out at the scene inside.

..........................

Author's Note:

Sorry this took so long, next chapter should be up soon;)

Hopefully this should satisfy those wiffy crazy people out there, at least for a little bit. For those of you who hate my cliffhangers...i am frail and tend to bruise easily!


	29. Chapter 29

Disclaimer: My beta is a great!!! Unfortunately, neither of us owns Buffy.

..............

Chapter 29

"Heh…heh…," Xander wheezed.

Dawn reached over and slapped Xander on the back to get him to breathe. "Breathe, Xander. Don't die."

"I'm gonna…I'm gonna…"

"There's something wrong here." Dawn cocked her head and took in the scene before her.

"Of course there's something wrong here!" Xander yelled. "They're kissing! And not in a friendly like manner!"

"They look pretty friendly to me," Dawn snorted. "Never mind. Look at them," She stood up and grabbed Xander's jaw, forcing him to really study the lip-locked women sitting before them.

"What…huh?" Xander straightened. "Why aren't they moving?"

It was true, the women were embracing, lips pressed together, eyes locked and breathing in synch. But they weren't moving, not an inch. They hadn't responded at all to Dawn and Xander bursting through the door and arguing. And the two Scoobies hadn't been arguing quietly.

"What are they doing?" Dawn leaned down and crept up on the two slowly, peering at them. She then reached out with a perfectly manicured nail and poked Willow in the shoulder. Neither she nor Buffy reacted.

"Xander," she beckoned the dark-haired man over, "you've gotta see this. It's so cool."

"Over here is close enough, thank you," Xander denied, covering his good eye with one hand. "I'm in shock. I think I'm gonna faint."

"Oh, shut up and get over here." Dawn reached over and snatched at his sleeve, making him yelp and stumble over. "Look at their eyes."

Xander sighed and with a shudder, positioned his head so he could see the eyes of the couple.

"Okay," he said after studying them for a few moments. "That is pretty cool. Freaky, but cool."

Buffy's eyes were the bright, glowing gold they had come to associate with her using the extra power that had been bestowed on her by the Original slayer. Willow's eyes were what really captured the Scoobies attention.

Wide open, her normal green irises were expanded to the maximum. But her pupils, normally dark, were now glowing with a bright, white light. Like a star shining on a black field, the light flickered and pulsed with life. Then, as Xander and Dawn kept watching, the light started to grow.

With the growing light, the two women frozen in the embrace began breathing heavier. Where before they were almost deathly still, Buffy and Willow were now panting as their chests heaved in unison. The white light in Willow's eyes kept growing, completely engulfing the couple, joining with the gold of Buffy's and then expanding beyond

"I-I don't think this is a good thing," Xander blurted as he and Dawn scrambled back. The white and gold lights of the couple's eyes began to burn even brighter, then expanded outward in a silent explosion. A wall of light and heat slammed into Dawn and Xander, lifting them up and back into the concrete walls of Willow's meditation room.

"Ohhhh," Xander groaned and opened his eyes, rolling heavily over onto his back. He had bounced off the wall and face first onto the floor. "That kinda stings. Dawnie, you good?"

When he received no immediate response Xander grunted and raised his throbbing head, concerned. Dawn was lying on her side, one arm flung under her head. Xander grew a little frantic and began to gather his energy to get up when the brunette's eyes fluttered open and she let out a moan.

"I'd like to file a complaint," Dawn said as she looked over at Xander. "Somebody call my lawyer."

"Sorry, Dawnie," Xander grinned weakly, "Only a one-eyed carpenter here."

"Xander," Dawnie began to get up despite the pain all over her body, "Willow and Buffy."

"Shoot," Xander cursed and got up, remembering the couple in the middle of the room.

The witch and the slayer were slumped over on the floor, completely unconscious. Whatever had happened, it had obviously taken its toll on them. Their breathing was even and they didn't seem to have any injuries. The problem was that the two biggest guns the Watchers Council had were out. And neither Dawn nor Xander had a clue as to when they would wake up.

………………

"They were really kissing?" Faith asked as Dawn finished briefing the rest of the group on what had happened in the meditation room.

"Totally lip-locked," Dawn confirmed while holding an ice pack to the side of her head.

"Score one for Red," Faith smirked. "Always knew if there was someone who was gonna convince B to give up the stick, it'd have been her. Or me, ouch!" The dark slayer snatched her hand off the table from where it had been lying underneath Lucky's. "Jeesh, I'm just jokin' here!"

"Let us move onto more pertinent questions," Giles interrupted, pinching his brow and leaning back in his chair.

Everyone had gathered together after Dawn and Xander had rushed Willow and Buffy to the infirmary. The cover story was that it was a surveillance spell gone wrong, but Dawn wasn't sure how long that was going to hold. The doc could find nothing physically wrong with either of them. They didn't seem to be in any kind of distress, they were just sleeping.

"You've gone over what happened. Does anyone have any theories?" Giles asked.

"Those two have been thick as thieves," Faith said. "They for sure were hiding somethin'."

"Yeah," Dawn sighed, "But nobody knows what. Well, except for the whole kissing thing, but I knew about that and I don't think kissing is supposed to make things go all boom."

"You been doin' the wrong kind of kissing then Dawnie," Faith leered.

"Wait a minute," Xander pushed into the conversation. "You knew about the kissing? Why didn't you tell me?"

"'Cause you'd have freaked," Dawn spared him a glance. "Moving on. It doesn't really matter what happened. We don't have time to figure it out. Either they'll come out of it or they won't, but we have to make a decision about what to do next."

Faith raised an eyebrow, Dawnie sure had grown up. She was getting to be more and more like her older sister every day.

"So whatta we know," Faith got down to business as well. Buffy and Willow, of all people, would understand the necessity.

"We've been keeping an eye on illegal traffic because we knew they'd have to move the girls somehow." Dawn picked a remote off the table and pointed it toward the wall. A screen rolled down and a display flickered to life.

"I love a good PowerPoint," Xander commented. "They're always so entertaining."

"I've got the spinny arrows in this one." Dawn grinned and then pushed another button. Three of said arrows in different colors spun into view and pointed at three points on the world map displayed there. Dotted lines in three different colors matching the arrows showed up as well. The lines originated at the spots where the girls had been snatched from and ended at the locations, bouncing all over the map

"They moved them around a lot, trying to avoid detection, but we finally got them. We tracked them down to these locations, one in Mexico, one in Africa, and one in India."

"Even I can see that's all in a straight line," Faith commented.

"They're all on intersecting points for latitude and longitude." Lucky's voice cut through the room. "They all lie on the 20 degree circle of latitude."

"Exactly," Dawn nodded. "They didn't grab these girls randomly. Slayers are hard enough to contain when it's a willing containment. You don't go to that kind of trouble just for souvenirs. That, combined with the locations they're holding them at, screams big time mojo to me."

"So we snatch 'em back," Faith grunted. "We know where they are now."

"Yes." Giles nodded. "We'll have to do it soon as well. I would have rather taken them back while in transport, but we didn't find them fast enough."

"Okay," Faith nodded, "Lucky and I'll start getting some teams together from all the schools. This'll have to be a worldwide op."

"Good," Giles agreed and the two slayers left the office to start their part of the operation.

"It's not gonna be that easy," Xander said. "These guys aren't stupid. They have to know we'll be gunning for them."

"I know," Giles adjusted his glasses and sighed. "And likely Faith and Lucky do as well. But we have no choice. We can't just leave those girls there."

"No, I guess we can't," Xander looked down at his sneakers and shrugged. "So it's likely a suicide mission?"

"That's always a possibility," Giles whispered.

"But they'll go anyway," Dawn clenched her fist. "And hopefully they'll get the kids out first."

"All right," Xander stood up, "I'll get the covens on this. We need to get as much intel as possible about these locations so we don't send them in completely blind."

"I'll see if I can get anything out of the governments," Dawn joined him in walking out of the office.

"It's days like this I almost miss Sunnydale," Giles whispered and then turned back to his books. They all had their part to do.

.........................

Author's Note:

So are fair heros are down and out and it's the rest of the Council to the rescue. Will they be there in time? What are the bad guys planning? And why is the author writing dialogue like a 1920's radio show?

Tune in next chapter to find out....(about the story I mean, cause I just felt like writing like this;)

Omake:

Lucky- What did you mean about you and Buffy?

Faith- What do you mean?

Lucky- You mentioned in the office about you turning Buffy away from driving stick, what did you mean?

Faith- I-I-I...it was just a joke - weak laughter

Lucky- Really - insert sarcasm and dark look

Faith- Of course - cough - not

Lucky- WHAT?!

Faith- Gotta go!


	30. Chapter 30

Disclaimer: I'm having trouble think of witting things to say, so I'll just say it plain. I DON'T OWN NOTHIN'!!!! (Are you happy now? -huff)

Chapter 30

(Somewhere over Mexico)

Master Sergeant Eric Miller tried to stop glancing over at the passengers who were currently occupying the hull of his airplane. It wasn't really his airplane of course. Technically, it belonged to the U.S. Air Force, but Eric had been a sergeant in the Air Force for almost twenty years. He knew who really ran everything. That still didn't make him feel any better about the group lounging in the pull-out seats.

It was odd; Eric thought he'd seen just about everything while working under the Special Operations command. The MC-130P Combat Shadow was normally used to transport Specia Operations personnel to hard-to-reach places, under the radar. It was equipped with a fully integrated inertial navigation and global positioning system, night vision goggle, or N.V.G., compatible interior and exterior lighting. It also had forward looking infrared, radar and missile warning receivers, chaff and flare dispensers, N.V.G. compatible heads-up display, satellite and data-burst communications, as well as in-flight refueling capability as a receiver. This bird had seen everything from Seals to Rangers to Recon to even some CIA and FBI personnel. It'd never seen anything like this stroll up the deck.

All ten of them were sprawled out, taking up both sides of the hull. They had stowed secured their gear behind them. Securing it to the sides of the bird, they gave off a few glares if anyone, but their own, looked like they were going to touch their stuff. A few of them had fallen immediately asleep and some were talking to each other. But it was the two in the corner that drew his eye. One was flipping a yo-yo up and down in an intricate dance, sometimes making it spin and leap, and the other was sharpening the biggest ax he'd ever seen.

…………….

Faith caught the airman in the front of the cargo hold glancing at her again and finally decided she'd had enough. The guy was old enough to be her father, he should know better. Catching his gaze, she pursed her lips and kissed at him, giving him a sultry leer. Chuckling when he went almost completely red and spun away, she turned her attention back to the Scythe. It didn't need sharpening really, but the motion was soothing to her.

"You're such a trouble maker," Lucky commented from beside her. Her eyes never opened and her right hand flicking the yo-yo in a complicated pattern. When Faith just laughed, she brought her left hand up and a second yo-yo spun out to join the first.

"It's all part of the package, baby," Faith smirked and stretched upward.

"Hmmmm," Lucky's reply was noncommittal, but there was a small upward tilt of her lips.

"So, are we ready?" Faith turned her attention to less pleasant matters.

"Should be," the little wooden spheres never stopped as Lucky answered. While Faith was Head Slayer of the entire Council and was followed unquestionably in battle, Lucky was in charge of overall strategy and planning. Faith had no problem admitting that while her tactical skills were great, she wasn't that good at planning for the long-term. Lucky, however, was a genius. She seemed to revel in the minutia of intelligence and operational readiness reports.

"The covens surveyed the areas, and while they couldn't get a detailed report because of interference, confirmed the existence of facilities in all three locations. The governments don't know or aren't saying anything about them. Leaves us to assume our enemies are either powerful enough to do this without being caught or rich enough to have bought off the right people."

"Wolfram and Hart," Faith growled, her eyes narrowing. The slayer had a hard-on for the evil corporation ever since hearing about L.A. She was still pissed at Angel for that one and had insisted on being in the clean-up in hopes of finding him. She never had.

"It's a possibility," Lucky frowned, sending the yo-yo's up into the air in agitation. "I don't think so, however. This operation has none of the flair and braggadocio that we've come to associate with them. They also took a major hit after L.A. and we've been pushing at them ourselves. I think this is an unknown operator, which makes me worry. If this _was _Wolfram and Hart we'd know what to expect."

"Yeah." Faith sighed. "I gotta admit, I don't like that part. I don't like sending my girls in like this, Lucky."

Lucky smiled to herself at Faith's use of the proprietary _my_.

"I understand, love," she snapped one of the yo-yo's back to her right hand and placed it on Faith's arm, "but we don't have any choice."

"I know," Faith agreed. "This isn't just about the girls they took."

It was true. The easiest thing to do would be to send in a strike force for each location and extract the taken girls and then go, but they couldn't do that. This shadow organization had exposed a weakness in the Council. One the Council couldn't afford to have known. If word got out that they had gotten away with their operation without any kind of retaliation then the Council would be seen as weak. The bad guys would start kidnapping girls left and right and the situation would just snowball.

"We've gotta take'em out hard," Faith growled.

"We will," Lucky rubbed her hand up and down Faith's arm, reassuring her as she thought back on the plan.

They were going for overkill here, wanting to make an example of the enemy. It was the biggest operation that the Council had ever undertaken. Five squads of ten slayers had been assigned to each location. Four squads would surround them and the magick workers assigned to them would set up a shield around the area. The fifth would come in from the air. Nothing would be allowed to enter or leave after the shield was set up. It was the slayers job to free the girls if possible, but overall to make sure that nothing survived within the facility. After gathering intelligence they were to eliminate all members of the organization and destroy the buildings. Complete annihilation was the objective.

"It's a good plan." Faith set the Scythe down and turned to her second, trying to reassure her.

"I know." Lucky stopped the second yo-yo and looked down at the deck of the vibrating plane. "But so many things can go wrong. We don't have a complete intelligence report on the facilities. We have no idea where the girls are in there. It could be a complete maze. Not to mention we haven't a clue what ritual their planning on using the girls in. Not much can stand up against fifty slayers but…"

"We just gotta do what we can do, girl." Lucky looked over as Faith smiled and snuggled back into her seat. Then Faith tilted her head and caught Lucky's eyes before continuing. "Could this be a trap? Sure, no doubt about it. These guys don't strike me as stupid. But it don't change what we gotta do. That's what being a slayer is all about, chargin' in when other people would just head for the hills. I mean, look around. All these girls know the risks and you don't see them runnin', do you?"

Lucky glanced around at her squad. Some were laying down, some talking, one was even jamming out to her iPod, but none looked scared. To them, this was just another jaunt in the park. A sudden grin split Lucky's face. Faith was right. The reality was that they could die at any time in their job, this was just another mission.

"You're right." she nudged Faith and turned to the girl with the iPod, yelling at her, "Hey Denise, what've you got on there?"

"Aretha," the girl pulled an ear bud out and raised a slim black brow at Lucky. "Why, you wanna hear?"

"Yeah, plug it in. I'm getting tired of listening to the hum of this bucket of bolts."

"Right on," Denise nodded and unplugged her headphones. As she switched over to the small but powerful speakers attached to her pack, the hull of the C-130 was filled with the soulful wail of Aretha Franklin as she sang about a "Chain of Fools".

Sergeant Eric Miller and the rest of the crew watched as the oddest guests the Special Ops command had ever transported got up off of their chairs and began dancing around the plane as if they hadn't a care in the world.

………………(Unkown Location, Unknown Time)

Missy Harrison tried not to be scared as the vampires lifted her into place. The other five girls were already secured, watching her with sympathetic eyes. The metal plates they were sealed into were bulky and the vampires were not concerned with being gentle as they maneuvered them. When Missy was finally in place, the vampires nodded and went back out the door, their job done. Missy took the chance to look around.

She and the other girls formed the top of a huge stone funnel. The ground sloped sharply down under her and she had to struggle to keep her head up. At the bottom of the funnel was a circular area with elaborate scroll work carved into it. There were grooves in the funnel, running down to the floor. Even Missy, a baby slayer, could figure out what this was for. The slayers were going to be used in some type of ritual and though Missy didn't know what for, she was smart enough to figure out how.

_"Blood,"_ she remembered Miss Willow frowning at them in magick class, trying to get her point across. _"Blood is the base ingredient for almost all spells, especially dark spells. Blood is powerful because it contains the basis for life. Unfortunately for slayers that is doubly true. Your blood is particularly powerful and so you must be wary of ever allowing it to be used in magick."_

"Blood is the basis for all things," Missy whispered, repeating the line in horror as she stared down at the spell on the floor.

....................

Author's Note:

So, ya'll gettin' excited yet?! Yeehaw! (Okay, I just got off of a really, really cool reining horse. I'm feeling very western right now;)

Hope you guys like it so far. We're getting into the nitty-gritty now and we'll all just have to wait and see what happens next. I'm looking forward to it, how 'bout you?

I'd like to thank all the people who are reviewing. I know I can't get back to you all personally but I want you to know that I do appreciate them. I'm just happy that people are reading it, much less commenting on it=)


	31. Chapter 31

Author's Note: There are forces out there more powerful than me...their called copywrite laws.

.........

Chapter 31

"The slayers are coming, sir," a vampire reported.

"Of course they are." Zeak smiled slightly and took a puff of the fine cigar that was in his hand. He had always appreciated a good smoke, even when he'd been alive.

"But brother," Titus whined as the flunky left, "If the slayers come…"

"All we'll lose is some…okay, a lot of minor players," Zeak stabbed his cigar at Titus where he sat across from Zeak at the table. "Who cares about some small fish. You have to be aware of the big picture here, Titus, remember?"

"R-Right," the thin vampire gnawed at his fingernails, making them bleed and then sucking on them. "The b-b-big p-picture. I got it, Zeak."

Zeak eyed his brother out of the corner of his eye. They couldn't afford for anything to go wrong here. One wrong move and Hell itself might seriously break loose. Then he nodded. For all his flaws, and there were many, Titus would do as he was told.

………..

Xander stood in the center of the Ops room at the Cleveland campus. There were two rooms in each campus, one main one and another in case of emergencies. Claiming to have the most knowledge about these things by virtue of having watched just about every single quote "super cool futuristic spy, military, and sci-fi flick out there", Andrew had taken over the designing of them.

Saying he'd been influenced by both by Babylon 5 and James Bond, Andrew had done a surprisingly thorough job by blending together a mix of technology and magick with which to keep track of the slayers in the field. Only one watcher was needed to run the room, though it could hold more depending on the size and the amount of operations being executed at any given moment. They also had the ability to link in with the other operations rooms at the separate campuses.

For this, every campus was involved. The Cleveland campus was running the program down in Mexico, the Hong Kong campus was attending to things in India, and the British campus was helping out the smaller, African based school with its operation. The school in Rio was keeping track of the rest of the world. Xander nodded to Dawn, letting her know he was prepared for her to activate the room.

As he, Dawn, and Giles stood in the middle of the room the illusion spell shimmered into place around them. The entire room seemed to disappear. In front of them were 3 different images, each the real time view of the head slayer at each location. Every slayer carried a charm so that the view could switch to them if required. Around the back of room were the images of the representatives of each school, linked real time and awaiting their orders.

"I hate the bouncing," Dawn complained, "I always feel like I'm gonna hurl. I had the same problem with _The Blair Witch Project_."

"Suck it up, Dawnie," Faith's voice echoed in the room as she stood up. The observers could see a few strands of her dark hair whip about in front of her, blown by the violent wind of the open plane door. "If you can't take a little bouncing, close your eyes for the next part of the show!" With that the slayer flung herself out of the plane and into the pitch black night with a graceful leap.

"Beginning Operation Baby Get Back," Andrew announced, he was representing England.

"How did we end up with that name?" Xander asked.

"We took a vote," Andrew huffed, "The younger girls won. They liked it because it reminded them of the Sir Mix-A-Lot song, Baby Got Back."

"Dear Lord," Giles sighed and rubbed at the bridge of his nose.

Xander just smirked and turned back to the operation, he loved the odd mix of professionalism and weird humor that permeated the new Council. As he watched the team leaders plummet from the sky with their squads he prayed to whoever was out there, PTB's or not, that they wouldn't loose anyone tonight. He wasn't quite sure why he still prayed like this. He had been shown so many times that the PTB didn't care about individuals, only Their "greater good". He supposed it was the innate Scoobie stubbornness in him. He refused to give up hope.

"We're down," Faith grunted as she and the rest of her squad chucked their parachutes and dropped the last hundred feet to the ground. "Tell the magick people to do their thing."

"We have arrived," Chao-Ahn stated a second afterward from her location in India.

"Good to go," reported Vi, the leader of the African team.

"Get the shields up," Xander ordered.

The orders went down the line and at three different locations around the world, in perfect sync, three spots seemingly disappeared off the face of the earth. To the passing satellites they seemed the same, but underneath the shield was an entirely different story. No communication, electronic or magickal, save for the Councils was allowed in or out. For all intents and purposes they had become dead zones.

"I've got no traffic from the 'real world,'" Dawn commented, keeping her eyes on the bouncing images.

"Good," Xander sighed. Even thought they'd timed it so the operations could all be committed under cover of darkness it had still been kind of tricky with all the time zones. They liked to do things late at night to avoid people but in Mexico and India they'd had to go early evening and early morning. Luckily, the bad guys had been nice enough to make their secret headquarters out in the middle of nowhere. It made keeping this under wraps a lot easier.

"Move in, people," he told the impatient slayers that were waiting on the inside rim of the newly set up shield after the main units reported the all clear. The units that had dropped from the sky had been in charge of taking out any sentries and security systems, electronic or otherwise. It was the job of the rest of the slayers to sweep in from all sides to ensure containment.

Dawn had had trouble at first, watching slayers work this way through the images. It was one thing to see one jump into a fight with a vamp or a demon while on patrol. Then the view was jumping around so much it was hard to keep track of. But watching them, through their own eyes, creep up on their intended victims, always gave her the wiggins. Vampire or not, they always gave her the feel of a big cat sneaking up on its prey. It was a little more insight into slayer psychology than she wanted.

"Here come the kiddies," Faith informed them as she leaned off the metal tower she was on to look out over the scrub filled plain, shaking the dust of a dead vamp off her jacket. The Mexican facility was obviously an old industrial plant of some kind. Huge metal towers shot up out of the main concrete building, a maze of pipes and ladders covering it all. The slayer's enhanced vision gave the watchers a good view of one of the squads as they came streaming over a hill like a pack of wolves. "Guess it's time to get to work."

…………….

_They're waiting for us…_

_Time is different here…_

_Their screams are muffled…so far away…_

_We aren't ready yet…_

_We like it here…everything is soft…_

_Perhaps we will wait…just a bit longer…but…_

………….

"Tyra," Xander addressed one of his squad leaders in Africa, "send two of your squad over to flank the vamps in the eastern corridor. Margo's bottled up there."

"Right, boss," Tyra agreed and gave the orders.

Xander took a deep breath and went back to studying all the information coming in from the field. The operation was going well so far. They'd encountered pockets of resistance, but that was to be expected. The problem was that the vamps they were encountering were _very_ organized and they were using modern weaponry.

"We got 'em, boss" Tyra reported, "Sheila and Max took 'em out from behind."

"Good." Xander nodded, "Margo, now that you're free, continue on to next set of hallways." Xander's arms folded across his chest as he watched the display before him. _This is sitting about as well as Episodes one through three. These vamps are too organized. _

_And guns?_

_Since when do the dead and fangy decide that guns are a good thing to use? They should stick to the their sucky, bitey ways. Gonna give me the serious willies if we move into actual live fire permanently. _

Luckily, their girls had been trained to deal with military tactics. After their run in with the Initiative the Council had deemed it necessary.

"How are things going on with you guys?" he addressed Giles and Dawn, not turning to look at them.

"We're good," Dawn reported. "No casualties, though I sent two back to the shield because of gunshot wounds."

"Only one for me, thank god," Giles reported.

"I've got some info," Andrew reported from England. "I finally managed to track down the owners of these places. If I'd had Willow's help it would have been faster 'cause she could have used magick but since she's not…"

"Get to it in the next century, Andrew," Dawn interrupted.

Andrew's eyes had dark circles under them and his hands were shaking slightly, a sure sign of a caffeine overload.

"Right," Andrew shook his head, "Basically, I followed the trail back through all these shell companies and came up with one name, Magnolia Security, Ltd. They're…"

"They're mercenaries," Dawn stated grimly, her eyes flat.

"Technically they run security operations for civilian organizations in dangerous areas," Andrew reported. "They do security work for big corporations in places like Iraq and Afghanistan."

"Like us?" Xander asked confused.

"Not exactly," Dawn cleared up the situation, "Though it's true one of our cover businesses, the Time Group, does do that sort of thing. I've run into these guys before though. Their little more than thugs in business suits. I knew they were into some bad things, but I certainly didn't know they were into the supernatural," Dawn cursed fluently in several languages.

"It doesn't matter," Giles reassured her, "There's nothing we can do now but complete the operation and deal with them later. Andrew, I want you to keep digging. If you come up with anything that can help us right now, tell us. If not, just file it away and we'll discuss it at a later date."

"Right, Giles," Andrew wearily agreed, going back back to his assigned task.

The three Scoobies turned their attention back to the current operation. The slayers were working their way methodically through the buildings from the outside. The Mexican facility's maze of industrial corridors was proving particularly tedious. The African and Indian facilities were nothing to laugh at. The African building must have been a storage area of some kind because it was a huge, concrete, underground labyrinth of hallways and empty rooms. The facility in India was made up of a large amount of smaller buildings that were networked together by small hallways. No one had any clue what it had been.

"I don't like this," Dawn muttered, "There's not enough resistance."

"What do you mean?" Xander asked, "Their holding their own."

"I know, but look at the situation," Dawn pointed out, "We're whittling away at them steadily, their being forced to retreat. All we've run into are these stupid vamps. No big demons, no magick guys, no trap spells, nothing."

"Maybe they were only expecting us to send in a small group," Giles suggested, "That's all we've ever had to send in before, a squad or two. We've never committed forces in this manner."

"Maybe," Dawn muttered, still unsettled.

"I think we've found the rooms the girls are in, Dawnie," Faith's distinctive voice came across thousands of miles to the echo through the room. Dawn had taken over charge of the Cleveland school with Willow down and Rona and Faith in Mexico. "There's a big group of bad guys making some kind of stand in front of a fucking big door."

"Can you break through without casualties?" Dawn asked.

"My girl's taking care of it," Faith told them smugly while peeking around a corner. The watchers got a view of Lucky out in a large corridor, a whirling chain in each hand.

_I never want to piss her off_, Dawn reiterated to herself once again. The somewhat plain looking slayer had a cold, flat expression on her face as she'd ripped through the vampire defense.

"I think we've found ours as well," Chao-An reported, "It has to be it, there's not a room left we haven't swept."

"Check it," Xander ordered, a bad feeling beginning to develop in his stomach.

"Damn it!" Vi's voice was sharp as it came across the line, "Guys, there's not a damn thing here but rats and vamps and right now the rats are more threatening. We've searched the whole place. There're no girls here!"

"There's nothing here, Xander!" Chao-An reported, looking around at a bare room.

"We've busted through," Xander shifted his attention to Faith's operation as she reported in. "The last vamp is dust. We're going in."

"Wait Faith, don't...," was all Xander got out as he watched through Faith's eyes as her squad slammed through a huge metal door.

"What the hell?" Faith had walked forward through the door. She stopped and looked down.

"Oh goddess," Dawn managed as the watchers in the room took in what was on the screen.

Faith and her squad were standing on a large walkway overlooking a huge room. Below her the room was split into four pits, wide and open at the top and funneling down to smaller circles on the bottom. At the top of each pit six baby slayers, their hands and feet melded into steel plates, hung helpless. All twenty-four missing girls were here, the other two locations in India and Africa had been a ruse.

"Faith, look," Lucky's hand came into focus as she pointed down at the girls. "Their hurt…their all bleeding."

It was true, each girl had been slashed twice, a huge bloody x on her back. The blood was seeping down the concrete channels they were lying in. Luckily, they all seemed to be unconscious and not dead. Faith could hear their hearts still beating.

"Don't let the blood reach the floor!" Giles yelled, startling the slayers on the platform into action. Leaping down they all ran as fast as they could to help the girls. But it was too late. Missy Harrison's blood reached the floor before they did.

The squad blew backwards as light shot up from one pit. The one pit started then the other three light up in succession, emanating an eerie, orangish light. Faith rolled to her side and tried to stand, but fell to the floor as the ground began to shake violently beneath her. Frightened now, she stopped and covered her ears as the space filled with a huge crash. To her, it sounded like a great gong being hammered with sledgehammer, making even the bones of the Watchers in Cleveland shake and vibrate. All over the world Slayers fell to the ground, writhing in agony.

.................

Author's Note:

Sorry it's so late this time. Let's just say it was a combination of the holidays, the downsliding economy, writer's block, a couple other factors, and my own inherint laziness.

Finally getting down to the wire here! Ooohh, I'm so excited. How 'bout you guys? Eh...Eh...No one's anwering. Oh well, I'm happy in my own little world. Thanks to everyone who's kept up with this story from the beginning and even whose who've just joined. You guys ROCK!


	32. Chapter 32

Disclaimer: OH C'MON! What's a little thing like copyright laws between friends, ehhh?!

I have been instructed to add the following:

Beta Note: *waves to the masses* Sorry for the delay in getting this chapter out. It's all Winddrinker's horrible mean old beta's fault...relocating to a different office and home will mess with your free time...I don't recommend it. Thank you for you patience. Now...enjoy the read. =0)

WD-"Don't believe her! She's not old at all!! (*whimpers in abject terror* Please don't kill me!)

..............

Chapter 32

'_They're in trouble,'_ the being that still recognized herself as Willow Rosenberg stated.

'_They're always in trouble,' _she heard a voice she recognized rebut the statement, '_that's what makes them slayers.'_

_'That's a little harsh,' _Willow scoffed, looking over to a floating, misty Buffy. Willow cocked her head to the side, glancing around. They were both translucent, mixing with, but apart from the cool mist that surrounded them. The vapor that encompassed her felt oddly comforting. It cocooned them and dampened the sounds of the outside world.

A little niggling thought in the back of her mind told her that all of this was not normal. She shouldn't be floating next to Buffy. Floating was bad. Floating implied possible death.

'_It's not harsh,' _Buffy offered a sympathetic smile, her eyes soft as she continued_, 'It's reality. The job they do is hard. With so many of them, one of them is always in danger.'_

_'Shouldn't we help them?' _Guilt ate at the witch as images flashed before her. Flashes of slayers being attacked by well organized vampires. Slayers falling at their hands, but there were also images of vampires blowing to dust. Willow knew that she and Buffy could take all the vampires out without a problem.

'_We can't interfere now,'_ Buffy reminded her.

'_Rules are stupid,' _ Willow grumbled.

'_Willow, you love rules!' _Buffy laughed. _'You're like, the queen of rules.'_

_'Well I don't like them when they mean letting our friends get hurt,' _the witch crossed her arms and pouted cutely.

'_I warned you that you might not like it,'_ Buffy gently chastised her.

'_I know, I know.' _The witch sighed.

Things were starting to come back to her now. Willow couldn't quite remember it all, though she knew it was there to go back and look if she wanted. She remembered Buffy kissing her. She remembered seeing the explosion of light and passing out. A smile turned the corners of her mouth up as the kiss her and Buffy shared floated into her memory. It was joy and bliss blended together. She wasn't certain where she ended and Buffy began; they had trembled on the cusp of ecstasy for what seemed like an eternity. The next _conscious_ thought she had, however, was of floating next to Buffy in the mist.

'_So we're just going to float here like idiots?' _Willow snarked.

She knew the answer to the question, even before Buffy verbalized it. She found herself knowing all kinds of things. She knew how the Universe had begun, in void and shadow, because she'd been there. She knew what the smallest insect in the world was up to right now. She also knew seemed to know what all the frogs were doing, as well. Something she was trying her best to ignore. So Willow knew exactly what she and Buffy were waiting for, though she wasn't quite sure _how_ she knew.

'_That'll come later,'_ Buffy assured her.

Willow reached out and grabbed Buffy's insubstantial hand with her own. The physical touch wasn't really necessary; they were with each other all the time now. It felt normal and comforting.

Buffy became her touchstone during this process, anchoring Willow through the transition. Whenever Willow felt herself being torn in so many different directions by all the information she'd absorbed and all the things she could sense and do, Buffy brought her back. It was so overwhelming, everything they'd become. Willow knew now why it had taken Buffy two years to sort through everything. Why even now, they weren't at full strength.

'_If we'd been faster…,' _Willow sighed regretfully.

'_You mean if _I'd _been faster,' Buffy's voice small as _Willow felt the regret and guilt as Buffy spoke.

'_You're being silly again.' _ Willow cupped Buffy's cheek and pulled her close, assuring her partner, '_You had to do what you had to do. The guys'll understand eventually. I mean, look at it like this…if you hadn't gone undercover and gotten us together like this things could have been so much worse and we wouldn't have had had any chance against what's coming and then…well, you know.' _

_'It's nice to know some things don't change,' Buffy said. _

The words reverberated through Willow's mind as she noted delightfully that the telepathic link allowed her and Buffy to talk even while kissing.

Buffy giggled, providing another observation on the link, the laughter kind of tickled.

Buffy pulled back from their embrace, resting her forehead against Willow's. _'Ya know Will, you're babble's a thing of wonder.'_ Seeing another set of images, Buffy tensed slightly and put voice to her concern, '_It can all still go so terribly wrong.' _Buffy sighed, leaning into Willow for comfort.

'_We won't let it,' _the witch vowed, knowing it was now her turn to offer comfort. She pulled Buffy closer, tangling hands in her slayer's hair to pull her in for another soft kiss. Willow suppressed a grin as she felt Buffy calm.

'_So now that we're all connecty and making with the oneness with each other that mean you're gonna follow my every whim and order?' _Buffy wiggled her eyebrows at Willow suggestively, pulling back from the kiss.

'_Good luck with that',_ Willow said dryly and patted Buffy on the head, ruffling her hair.

'_Eh,' Buffy_ shrugged, '_can't blame a girl for trying.'_

Suddenly a huge gong like sound filled the misty place, driving the images of slayers writhing in pain before it. Willow and Buffy were forced apart as pain wracked them.

'_This is it,' _their words intertwined, '_This is what we've been waiting for.'_

……………

Dr. Elaine Pratchett rushed through the infirmary in Cleveland trying to figure out what to do. While there were only four in her ward, the rest of the school was in a giant upheaval. She was used to slayers coming in for general first aid. Healing and disinfecting scrapes, cuts and bruises or even when there were major injuries she knew what needed to be done. Controlling the girls was easy enough if she needed to stabilize a patient, but tonight all bets seemed to be off.

She quickly poked her head outside her ward's doors and blanched. There were a few slayers dotting the hallway and none of them were in good shape. The girls she saw were seizing, thrashing around the halls and on the floor. The nurses and their Watchers could do nothing but helplessly watch and try and stay out of the way of their potentially deadly charges. At first, she tried to help one of the girls out, but the idea was quickly dismissed when the girl's fist had gone through a concrete wall.

Dr. Pratchett had a healthy respect for slayer strength, her niece was one. She had also seen the work that went into learning how to control the strength and what could happen when said control was lost. Now looking down the corridor and back at the two patients she had thrashing around like fish out of water, the good doctor was at a loss. She just thanked God that one of them, the new teacher that had come in unconscious with Principal Rosenberg, wasn't experiencing the same symptoms.

Slamming the door closed, Elaine took one last glance at the new teacher and Principal Rosenberg before rushing to the locked cabinet in her office. Elaine had no idea why the slayer wasn't seizing. According to the frantic phone calls she was getting, every other slayer in the school was. Maybe it was because she'd already been unconscious. Right now Elaine didn't have the time or energy to care, she had other things to worry about. She had just come up with the idea to use the tranquilizer pistols the school kept.

She made her way into her office searching for the keys to the metal cabinet. Locating the right one, she opened the cabinet and quickly pulled out two bandoleers loaded with ammunition and the rifle. Not bothering to close the cabinet, she spun around and began loading the weapon. Her thoughts lying somewhere in the 'If it can work on werewolves, it can work on slayers' vein.

Coming out of the office, Elaine whipped her head over at the dual gasps of air. She watched slack jawed as both Principal Rosenberg and the new instructor, whose name she couldn't remember for the life of her, rose up out of their beds. Elaine actually cringed a little, the new slayer's eyes looked like a vampires!

_Could she have been changed? But how could that have happened inside of the campus?_ Frantic thoughts were babbling their way through her mind when she realized two things. One, the girl's face hadn't morphed and two, Principal Rosenberg's eyes were glowing as well, only white.

"Dr. Pratchett," both women spoke at the same time as they got out of their beds and onto their feet.

"What?" Elaine frankly found the two of them staring at her with their glowing gazes a little eerie. Add in the fact that their body language, as well as their voices, were perfectly matched and this little episode was creeping up there in her "Very-Weird-Shit Meter".

They cocked their heads, the slayer's unbound hair slithering to her waist and giving her a rather feral look. "We have an assignment for you."

……….

"We're all going to die!"

"Shut it, Andrew," Dawn snapped at the panicking geek as he chugged down more coffee and typed frantically. "Just keep searching. I wanna be able to find the guys who started this after we're done here. They're _so_ a big pile of dust after I kick their asses!"

Dawn was working away on her laptop as well, trying to pull in information and send her Watchers where they needed to be. Basically, she was trying to keep the incident as quiet as possible and contain the damage as much as she could.

"As much as I agree with that sentiment," Giles interrupted them, "perhaps we could focus on the task at hand, hmmm?"

"As far as I can tell every single slayer all over the world is down," Xander informed them. "Whatever type of spell these guys started was a doozy."

"How're our magick people coming on finding a solution?" Dawn asked.

"Considering they've had a whole…mmmm, five minutes to work on it? Not so good." Xander grinned at Dawn.

"Excuse me?" The Scoobies all turned from to their right to see a new screen pop up. Dr. Pratchett, the Cleveland school's chief doctor was on it, looking a little harried.

"We don't know what's going on yet, Dr. P.," Xander told the woman. "We'll contact you as soon as we do."

"That's not why I'm calling," she informed them, "I've taken care of the patients down here. I used the tranquilizer gun we had on hand to take out the girls for the time being. What I'm contacting you about is a message – I have a message for you."

"From whom?" Giles narrowed his eyes.

"Principal Rosenberg and that slayer, the one that was brought in here unconscious with her. They woke up."

"Eh?!," the group said in unison.

Dr. Pratchett flinched a little at the response, realizing she was the center of attention. "Y-Yes, they told me to tell you to concentrate on helping the girls still out in the field. That they'd take care of the Mexico situation. Something about how it was out of your jurisdiction now and-and then Principal Rosenberg said to tell you, Xander, that it wasn't a yellow crayon situation."

"O-Okay?" Xander was a little confused.

"Don't look at me," Dr. Pratchett shoved her blond hair out of her face with a trembling hand and huffed at him. "I'm having the craziest day of my life and that's saying something around here! Their eyes were glowing! And they were talking in unison. Then they disappeared in sparkles. It was very creepy! So I've delivered the message and now," she hefted the rifle into view, "I've got to get back to my normal job."

"She's a little testy, isn't she?" Xander asked after the doctor signed out.

"It's her first Apocalypse," Dawn shrugged. "At least she brought good news. Buffy and Willow are awake and obviously have some idea of how to deal with this thing."

"Buffy?" Andrew stopped his typing to look up wide-eyed, "Buffy's back?"

"Oh poop," Dawn muttered, "There goes the undercover thing."

"It's doesn't matter now." Xander shook his head. "It's not like she was doing much anyway."

"I don't know, Xander," Dawn glanced over at him, "Her and Willow were being all mysterious before this happened."

"Can we get back to the fact that Buffy's _alive_!" Andrew squawked and his sentiment was followed by a few murmurs from the rest of the school heads that were still signed on.

"No!" Giles slashed his hand down, drawing everyone's attention. "Buffy's rise from the dead…again, can be dealt with at another time. We still have girls in the field. Willow and Buffy said that they would deal with whatever is causing our slayers to seize. We will trust them to do so. We must hold up our end. Xander, I want you to get Dr. Pratchett's idea of using the tranquilizers out to all the Watchers and schools. Andrew, go back to your search. Dawn, I want you to rouse whatever help you can to assist in helping our girls out that are taking care of the rest of the world." Giles waited a minute anticipating a flurry of activity. When none came, he lifted his glasses to rub the bridge of his nose. Glancing back up at the gob smacked crew, he sighed and barked, "Now would be a most brilliant time to start on this people! We do have a world to save."

..............

Author's Note:

So I'd like to take a moment to thank Beta's everywhere. All joking aside they are some awesome people, especially mine. I mean c'mon, they take the time out of their busy lives to go through our stuff (which, in my own case has been unmitigated %----- sometimes) and make it come out all clean and shiny. I find that amazing. So, thanks Whedonist! *bows slightly*

All right then, on with the note. So to answer the questions behind why Buffy went undercover in the first place...well, you'll get a full explanation later on. All I'll say now is "to decieve your enemy, you must first decieve your friends" (at least I think that's how it goes, my track record hasn't been that good lately *goofy grin*) But now I'm giving to much away so on to a different subject.

As to the subject of suggestions and mistakes noted in the story. I have tried to take people's ideas into account while on the go but I must confess that while I have been trying to go back and fix things that people have noticed and edit stuff, it's kind of a long process. So I've decided to leave the past chapters like they are on this site and then, once the story is done here, go back and repost the whole thing. All cleaned up. I realize it's not an ideal solution and that some people won't like it but I do have to go to work at some point (my boss is getting suspcious after the third grandma died!=)

OMAKE:

Buffy- I'm floating, I'm floating, I'm floating...this is getting a little boring here! Wake up, Willow!

Willow- nothing

Buffy- I love ya' here, but I am not known for my vast amounts of patience!

Willow- grumbles and yawns

Buffy- evil grin- If you won't entertain me then I'll just have to entertain myself!! -conjures marker

Willow- eyes still shut- Don't even think about it.

Buffy- freezes in mid-motion

Willow- turns over- ...not the frogs...I don't wanna...cheese...

Buffy- cocks eyebrow- She's a little scary.


	33. Chapter 33

Disclaimer: It all belongs to me! At least that's what the voices keep saying...

..........

Chapter 33

"How's it going?" Buffy asked, looking down at the slightly wide eyed shaman.

He was seated on the ground, stabilizing his corner of the giant shield in Mexico. He ignored the shower of sparks that the two women arrived with and continued to chant. The only indication that he had acknowledged their presence was the minimal increase of the whites of his eyes.

Buffy glanced around, taking in the low desert scrub and occasional cactus. The pre-dawn light no problem for her slayer-enhanced sight. The air was clear and dry in her nose, with a tang of mesquite. All of the animals within miles had been scared off by the magick, making it unusually quiet.

"Don't taunt the magick people, Buffy," Willow chastised, her head tilted back as she took in the shield that shimmered green in her sight. It was a fairly standard 'don't-see-me' spell intertwined with a magickal block. Simple, but impressive in its scale. The witch felt a small surge of pride for the people she had trained.

"Ruin all my fun," Buffy griped, then cast a teasing smile towards her partner. "Taunting is what I do best, you know."

"Save your legendary skills for the enemy, O' Mighty Slayer," Willow snickered. She turned her attention to the man still chanting on the ground. "We're going to go in now. You won't have to bring the shield down, just ignore the tingling sensation. Hold the shield for as long as you can, but if you hear me yell at you to drop it and run, do it immediately."

Satisfied that the shaman would follow her orders she reached out her right hand and a feeling of peace settled over her as Buffy's hand settled into it naturally. The shaman was the only one around to notice as the two women stepped through the shield with a slight shimmer and then promptly disappeared again once on the other side.

……

The room the two ported into was a huge cavern like structure in the center of the complex. Smooth concrete walls rose four stories over them and a single steel catwalk with descending stairs was fixed to the wall to their right. The door at the top was the only entrance. The four pits with their grisly contents still pulsed with a malevolent orange light. While it might have seemed like an eternity to those involved, only seven minutes had passed since Missy Harrison's blood had reached the ground and set the spell in motion.

Willow pushed aside the metallic scent of blood and her first instinct to help the wailing of Faith and the other slayers. Years of experience had taught her that solving the problem that was causing the pain was the best solution. _Interesting_. Even in the midst of chaos, she analyzed the construct of the spell. Willow skirted the edge of the pits and let out a low whistle of appreciation. "This is…art."

Buffy cast a curious glance at her partner. Willow noticed and quickly amended, trying to explain, "Okay, so, it's bloody icky-world-endy art, but Buffy, this spell is just…there's a simplicity here that's…" Trailing off at the look of Buffy's arm folded casually across her chest, Willow's cheeks flamed red.

"Will, not that I don't appreciate your love of magickal stuff. We sorta need to stop this. Can you gush later?" Buffy's arms dropped to her side and she smiled slightly at Willow hoping to take the sting from her words.

Willow nodded and explained, "The spell itself is pretty simple. Let me see what I can do."

Buffy nodded and anxiously shifted her feet.

Willow's gaze swept critically over the remaining pits and surrounding area. _Okay so they used a large burst of condensed energy to activate the veil that separated the dimensions_. Her hand grazed over the concrete lip of the pit closest to her. The complexity of the spell started in the way the energy was gathered. All the sacrifices' energy had to be braided together. Shaking her head, she mumbled, "I can't believe they did it."

"Will," Buffy's tone plaintive, "'splainy?"

Pursing her lips, Willow struggled with an explanation, "Whoever did this is using the slayers as an energy source. This is like one of my worst nightmares. Goddess, they," Willow stopped at Buffy's confused look. Regrouping, she tried again, "Think of the slayers like living, breathing mystical Energizer batteries. You and everyone else keep going and going going. Now take the idea of a vastly large supply of mystical energy and apply that to punching a hole into another dimension."

Buffy's eyes widened the implications clear.

"Yes, Glorificus on a slightly larger scale," Willow confirmed the unspoken question. " The only reason I imagine no one's ever tried it before is because there's only ever been one slayer at a time. The dimensional veil is a tough thing to break, just one wouldn't do it."

Buffy shook her head, recovering. Accepting the situation, she asked, "So tell me how to stop it." Her agitation mounting as the wall she erected to keep out the pain and terror she felt coming through from the surrounding slayers faltered. As it were, it still felt like being stabbed with hundreds of tiny, scalding pokers. To allow anymore feeling to come through would render her useless. She had to focus.

"Give me a sec," Willow murmured and stared at a spot in the center of the four pits. _There's something…I can't see, but boy can I feel._ She took an involuntary step back when she was hit with the something's power. Whatever 'It' was, it was malevolent, powerful and _hungry._ "There's something on the other side of the veil," Willow vocalized, dread coming through their link.

"Something?" Buffy asked, a little frustrated by the inefficient manner of communication, but knowing that the other way was not an option at the moment. Their link was too new and neither was experienced enough not get distracted by unnecessary thoughts and feelings. They would just have to do this the old fashioned way.

"It's a…oh wow, that's kinda cool…," Willow murmured. "Scary…but cool."

"Willow," Buffy growled.

"Oh right, the thing on the other side is what's causing the reaction in the slayers," Willow explained. "The spell itself just punched a hole through the dimension. It's like," she tried to think of a suitable metaphor, "it's like the spell caster cast a rope to someone, and now their pulling it through to the other side."

"Why are all the slayers being affected then?" Buffy asked. "Shouldn't the spell just suck the power out of the slayers that were sacrificed?"

"That's where my inappropriate appreciation comes in," Willow told her, "by keeping the girls alive the caster has made it possible to draw on the energy of not only the original girls, but the entire slayer line. The initial casting just used the girls' energy to pierce the veil. The thing on the other side caught hold of it and now it can just keep pulling and pulling until it takes every last drop of power from the Slayer Line."

Buffy scrunched her brow, "That'd be bad," she stated the obvious. "Will, I can keep the pain they're going through at bay, but if you're right, than the power drain is going to start affecting me soon and you as well. We've gotta get rid of this thing pronto."

Willow ran her hand through her hair, a trickle of sweat running down her neck. She had to think fast. Gnawing on her lower lip, she thought aloud, "The simplest thing would be to cut the 'rope'. That would be stop the drain and close the hole, but I'm concerned about what the backlash would be. We also need to get the power back into the Line; otherwise some of those girls are going to be drained dry." She looked around and an involuntary smirk played over her lips as an idea hit her. She quirked a brow at Buffy and asked, "Wanna play tug of war?"

Knowing her witch had come up with a plan she clapped her hands together, saying "Oooh, I love that game. If I win, will you give me a victory smooch?"

"Sure," Willow wiggled her eyebrows in agreement. Setting to work, she explained, "I'm gonna try and give the magick physical form, so that you can get a hold of it. Give me a sec."

"No worries," Buffy laced her hands behind her back and rocked onto her heels, "not like there's a time limit or nothin'."

"Hush, brat." Willow closed her eyes and concentrated.

What she was about to do was very difficult and if she wasn't linked with Buffy she wouldn't have even tried it. Before, she'd had the knowledge thanks to her teacher, but not the capacity. The problem with being a human and trying to handle raw magick was that the human body wasn't really built to handle it. That's why dark witches and shamans who wanted the ability made pacts with demons. Of course, the cost was usually their souls. Willow had always wondered why she'd been able to handle the magick without backup. Now, she knew the answer. And now that she was fully linked with Buffy, she had all that Slayer strength at her disposal.

She opened herself fully and lightly grasped the braided power coming from the slayers in her metaphysical "hands". She didn't try and hold it, letting it slip lightly through her fingers, but instead infused it with her own magick, making it solid and physical. She needed something that Buffy could get a good grasp on. Something that wouldn't break easily. As her idea became physical a thick rope similar to the grade school tug of war rope, began to form. The threads braided together and solidified in her grasp.

_That's a little wiggy_, Buffy thought to herself as she turned away from Willow to look at the spot in the center of the pillar. From seemingly out of nowhere a heavy looking rope shimmered into view, disappearing into the hole to the other dimension that was located about four feet off the ground As she studied it, she could see it wasn't just one rope, but rather several intertwined together. The single, individual strands traced back to the girls in the pits, disappearing into their bodies.

_I've seen some crazy stuff, but that's gotta take the cake. _Chuckling to herself she approached Willow and the place where the rope came together_. Leave it to Will to define new and interesting levels on my freak-o-meter_.

All she had to do was pull it back and then Willow would presumably take care of the rest. The slayer examined the rope for a second, trying to figure out how best to grab it. It was disappearing rather rapidly into the hole between dimensions.

"This is so going to ruin my nails," she grumbled out of reflex and reached out and grabbed hold. "Oh, shit!"

She was almost pulled off her feet by the force of whatever was pulling on the other side. _Stupid, stupid, stupid! Ow, ow, ow! _Buffy chanted as she steadied herself by slamming her feet into the concrete floor below. Grunting a little, she heaved and began to steadily walk backwards, shoving her feet in at each step.

The slayer noticed absently that the other girls had stopped screaming as soon as she'd stopped the outflow of energy. Inspired, she kept up the slow creep backwards. Whatever was on the other side didn't want to give up very easily though.

Sweat began to dribble down her back and a few times the rope slipped through her fingers, cutting them deeply. She ignored the blood trickling from her fingers and the pain radiating from her hands as she continued hauling. Her shoulder muscles were screaming. Buffy could feel Willow was suffering as well. Keeping the magick in physical form was extremely hard, requiring her total concentration.

"After this is over," Buffy panted to herself, "I'm gonna go shopping. I'm gonna finally go to a _real_ mall. I'm gonna get my hair done," she huffed and heaved herself backwards. Exclaiming, "I'm gonna get a manicure and a pedicure." She was halfway across the room when she was suddenly jerked to a stop. Whatever was on the other side wasn't happy at all and seemed to be stuck. Gathering her strength she gave one final big tug, screaming, "And by God, I am going to buy SHOES!!!"

There was a slurping, cracking sound and all of the pressure going against her was no longer there. She had time for a single, "Crap," and then was flung backward by her own inertia. She fell on her back, slamming her head into the floor, the rope still in her hands. She lay still for a few seconds, a little stunned. Then the rope started tugging against her hands and she grasped it hard by reflex.

_Let it go_, Willow's voice echoed in her head and she instantly dropped the rope. Sitting up she saw it rose into the air and the strands unwove themselves before her. Once free of each other, they were drawn back to their respective girls, disappearing into their bodies with an almost audible snap.

"So we did it," Buffy laughed, getting back onto her feet. She shook her hands, flinging blood to the ground. Her palms were healing as she watched. _Sometimes it's good to have super slayer powers._ She was tired, but a headache was the worst of her problems. "That was pretty easy. So where's my kiss?" She leered at Willow expecting a response. The only thing that she received was a groan.

Buffy looked from Willow to where the witch's gaze had settled. The redhead was staring at the dimensional hole. Only it wasn't just a little hole anymore. It was now a really big hole. And there was a really big, nasty looking _thing_ standing in front of it. And it didn't look happy.

Willow mumbled, "What'd you do, Buffy?"

"Me?" Buffy squealed, "Whadda ya mean, _me_? You said pull the rope! I pulled the rope!"

"I said the rope," Willow yelled back at her, "Not what was on the other end!"

"Don't you even start…," Buffy began.

"Both of you shut up!" Faith yelled, interrupting them, grabbing her head. "I've got the headache of the century and you are _not_ helping!"

Buffy and Willow looked over to see all the slayers on the ground were moaning and waking up. Even the ones in the pits seemed to be getting better. They'd done it. They'd saved them.

"Besides," Faith cracked her neck and reached for the Scythe, "It's just one demon. I don't care where the hell it's from. One measly demon isn't going be able to beat seven full slayers, a witch, and whatever the hell B's calling herself these days."

Then the four hidden doors located around the room burst open and a host of vampire-soldiers began pouring out. Simultaneously, the demon in the center of the room let out a deafening roar and flung out its hand, throwing a bolt of lightning that slammed into the the lower part of the ladder on the wall. It exploded in a shower of sparks and shrapnel.

"You just had to say it, didn't you!?" Buffy yelled at Faith as vampires streamed in between her and the rest of the room, cutting her off from Willow and the other slayers.

...............

Author's Note:

Okay, enough with the touchy-feely stuff. It's time to kick butt!!!

Omake:

Andrew: -enters office, moaning in agony

Giles: May I ask what it is you're doing here, Andrew?

Andrew: I'm trying to get together a presentation.

Giles: For whom?

Andrew: For the new President, Mr. Obama. -holds up pictures- Do you think I should make the background to this picture of a T'Klack demon in pink or blue? -walks out muttering

Giles: -rubs forehead -Poor bloody bastard.

Dawn (sitting across the desk): Who...Andrew?

Giles: No, President Obama.

.....

I just had to do it! Can you imagine! *laughs hysterically*


	34. Chapter 34

Disclaimer: I have e..ner..gy! I have e..ner..gy! _I_ have e..ner..gy! I have energy!! (Inside joke people. But anyways, Buffy ain't mine;)

This chapter is a little late in popping up, sorry about that. Let's just say that if you understand the inside joke, you understand why!

..................

Chapter 34

"Okay," Xander asked the war room at large, "What's the sit-rep, people?"?"

"That I'm not going to lose my dinner because all the video feeds from the slayers stopped thrashing around. Thank God!" Dawn answered inanely.

"All the girls that were on patrol at the time that the spell went off are accounted for," Giles told him, "We have multiple injuries but only four deaths."

"I've got my people running interference on the media for those girls that dropped in public" Dawn got down to business, "Stories about epilepsy and stuff."

"I guess Buffy and Willow did something," Andrew interjected, "Cause the feed from Faith is back to normal too."

Everyone in the room turned to look at Faith's screen to see if they could see what was going on. They heard Buffy and Willow yelling in the background and then Faith and stood up and yelled something about a demon, and all hell broke loose. A bright flash of light shot past Faith's sight and the whole screen became a roil with black clad, snarling vampires.

Xander looked around the war room again, "So…ideas…anybody…?"

…..

Willow rolled her eyes as a few of the vampires came at her. She held up her hand, palm out, smirking as the shield she'd constructed insulated her from the charging vampires. Smacking into it at a full run, the vampires instantly burst into flame and were dusted.

Safe for the moment, Willow turned her attention to the chaos that had engulfed the bunker room. A virtual wall of black-clad vampires separated her from Buffy and the rest of the recovering slayers. She knew through the link that Buffy was surprised, but okay. Willow could also hear Faith yelling insults, so she assumed that she and her squad were alright for the moment.

"_The girls,"_ Buffy's voice gasped into her head, "_the one's in the pits!"_

Cursing under her breath, Willow remembered. The girls that had been used as sacrifices were still encased and completely vulnerable, suspended in the four pits located around the room. They were a perfect meal for any vampire and right now Faith and her slayers were too busy trying to save themselves to help anyone out. Deciding on a plan of action, she ignored the vampires scrabbling at her shield. She extended both hands out and threw up shields over the top of the pits. Now any vampire trying to get at them would find it an impossible task as long as Willow was alive. _Which_, she admitted to herself as she looked over at the inter-dimensional demon roaring in the middle of the room, _isn't a guarantee right now._

"_Buffy," _she called, "_that demon you let through? I don't think it's very happy right now!"_

"_I told you," _Buffy rolled her eyes and pushed out as she responded, "_I just pulled the stupid rope!"_

Willow watched as a large batch of vampires was flung up into the air as a result of Buffy getting up onto her feet.

"Hey B!" Faith's yell interrupted, "If you've got any of that super power stuff left, I think we could use it right about now!"

"Buffy do this," she mocked, casually backhanding a vampire. The blow broke its neck and sent it sailing into his companions. With the space now cleared, she continued grumbling, her eyes glowed a vicious gold, "Buffy do that. How come," she leapt into the air, flying over the heads of the vampires below. She landed in the middle of the formation and finished her gripe, "nobody ever does anything for Buffy?!"

Stepping from the small crater she had created with her landing, she swiped at the few tendrils of hair sticking to her face. _The first thing when we get out of here: hair products, maybe even a cut. Stupid braids. Sindel, I'm not. _

"Dramatic entrance as always, B," Faith snarked, as she slashed at a vampire who had finally gotten over his surprise at Buffy's entrance.

"You should always go with what you're good at, Faithy," Buffy smirked back at her.

"Drama?" Faith returned the insult while punching a demon.

"Saving your ass," Buffy retorted easily.

"Keep dreaming," Faith sneered.

"And who was calling for help a second ago?" Buffy flicked her gaze over the room, "There's not that many of them…," she trailed off suggestively.

"I just wanted you to take care of that puny little mess you made." Faith shrugged off the suggestion that she and her team might need Buffy's help and waved a negligent hand toward the demon in the middle of the room.

"I keep telling you people," Buffy snapped, hands on her hips, "I just pulled the rope!"

"Blah, blah, blah," Faith teased, waving her hand in a talking motion.

"Hey!" Lucky yelled at them, "Are you two going to fight or trash talk. Cause it looks to me like we," she gestured to herself and the rest of the team, "are the only ones killing anything around here!"

There was a roar from said demon that drew their attention before Buffy could respond to the last insult. Then, before their surprised gaze, the demon reached out with one of its six taloned hands and snatched a vampire from the mix. It drew the screaming vamp into its grasp. White mist escaped from the vampire as it shriveled up and turned to dust. The demon sucked the mist into its body through its mouth and then roared again. The slayers watched wide eyed as it grew almost a foot and began flinging lightning into a wall, shattering cement blocks.

"I don't know," Faith admitted as she knocked another vampire back. "Maybe we don't wanna send this one back, B. I could get to like it if it keeps killin' off vamps."

"_Bad, bad, bad!" _Willow's voice yelled into their minds, causing all of the slayers to flinch. "_If it does more of that then it's gonna get all big and…with the lightning…and…and everything'll go all kablooey!"_

"_Tone it down, sweetie,"_ Buffy suggested. "_You sound like you've had one too many mochas."_

_"Right, sorry," _the witch apologized and slowed down her explanation. "_We can't let the demon kill anymore vampires. It's absorbing their power!"_

_"How big can it get, Red?"_ Faith had a really bad feeling about this.

"_It's like a big empty pit," _Buffy felt the horror that Willow was feeling as she looked at the demon through magickal sight echo across their connection. _"Like a_ _big, black bottomless pit of destruction and death." _

"Well that's certainly not a good thing," Buffy admitted out loud. "Okay, Faith, if you and your team take care of the vamps, Will and I'll deal with Sparky, deal?"

"Cool," Faith grinned and gave one last parting shot, "You should always clean up your messes, ya know?"

"Bite my…," Buffy started.

"_Not that this isn't extremely entertaining," _Willow interrupted the quip, "_but we've got work to do right now."_

"Ruin all my fun," Buffy huffed and turned back to the problem at hand. Namely, one inter-dimensional demon standing in the center of the room.

While the battle raged on around her, Buffy studied her opponent. "_He's really not all that big. Not mayor size. And no snake. Total plus right there."_ She eyed the eight foot tall, bulky, six armed creature and shuddered. "_The green skin and that red eye in the middle of his forehead makes me think Christmas experiment gone wrong. Like_ _a nightmare version of a Christmas tree,"_ she sent to Willow.

"_I really wouldn't know," _Willow told her. "_My experiences with Christmas trees were limited to the occasional holiday spent at Xander's house or yours and made for t.v. movies viewed at two in the morning on the Hallmark channel."_

_"Very sad recollection of your childhood," _Buffy said.

"_Not really. It just means that if we ever come across a demon that looks like a menorah, I'll be the first to know." _The witch watched in interest as a few more vamps fry themselves on her shield. They were like mosquitoes with a bug zapper._ "But if we ever come across a demon that looks like a dreidel, you're on your own. That song just gives me the creeps, 'Oh, dreidel, dreidel, dreidel….,' Ugh!"_

"_Okay," _Buffy placated, finding herself a little freaked out by Willow's ramblings despite herself. She walked over to casually kick a vamp that had disabled one of the slayers, sending it flying and earning a look of gratitude from the girl. "_But what are we gonna do about this one that's in the here and now?"_

_"Hmmm,"_ Willow mused, "_well, the first thing we need to do is clear this room out. I'm over the vamps playing the gamma rays to this stupid thing's Incredible Hulk. Where did they come from anyway?" _

Buffy eyed Willow suspiciously,_ "You've been spending way way too much time with Xander." _She laughed as Willow stuck her tongue out at her._ "I think there's some kinda passage or something. Best guess? No clue. Although less with the odd ponderings and more with the ideas that save the world, please?"_

_"Fine, fine,"_ Willow scoffed, "_just clear out the vermin so we can get to work. They're starting to stink up the room from bouncing off my shield." T_he witch flinched and waved a hand under her nose as another flung itself at her, leaving behind the stench of charred meat. _Eww!_

_"No need for us to do anything." _Buffy smiled and then glanced up at the platform bolted to the wall four stories above their heads.

As she watched the first of the teams that had been struck down outside the room ran out onto the platform. They had to send a few injured girls back to the shield, but there were still over thirty-five slayers left in the outer part of the compound. The ones that first arrived surveyed the situation and spotting Faith and her group, quickly jumped down and joined in the fight.

"Avoid the middle!" Faith yelled out as the squads began making headway through the mass of vampires. Overwhelmed, the demons quickly began falling back, trying to get to the hidden entrances that they'd arrived through. "You getting all this, X-man?" Faith asked.

"No worries, Faith," Xander's voice in her ear was as clear as if he were standing right next to her. "I'm glad the rest of the cavalry got there. The Merlins say the shields a limited thing. They've got some major pressure building up from the inside. Not sure how long they can keep it from shredding." She could here the smirk in his voice as he finished up, "No pressure or anything."

"Riiiight. My guess the pressure's from B's pet demon. Girl's gotta quit keepin' those." Faith glanced over at the multi-armed demon. "The vamps are about mopped up here. We can lend a hand, but I'm hoping B and Red have some sort of master plan."

"Since when did those ever work," Xander snorted.

"To true, X-man," Faith laughed out loud at the thought of some of the weird stuff that they'd had to do back in Sunnyhell, "to true."

Buffy ignored the one-sided conversation Faith was having and concentrated on the demon. "_Why isn't it doing anything?" _she asked Willow. "_I mean it's snatching up the occasional vamp and destroying all our eardrums with that stupid roaring, but it's not really coming out and fighting or anything."_

_"It might still be disoriented," _Willow mused, "_you did just pull it through a really tiny hole into an entirely different dimension."_

_"Nag, nag, nag," _Buffy folded her arms and groused, then noticed something really bad, "_now what the he…Stop her, Willow!"_

While they'd been planning one of the slayers, a brunette, had disregarded orders and made her way toward the demon and, with a yell, attacked it. She actually managed to get in a good slice with her sword, but it didn't matter. The sword didn't even come close to cutting through the thick skin of the demon. With another ear-shattering roar, the demon backhanded her. There was almost a hush as the slayer went flying through the room to land with a wet smack on the far wall. Buffy flinched in sympathy, the girl would lucky if she woke up within the next few months. A shattered skull was nothing to mess with, even for a slayer.

"Shit," Buffy swore and leapt over the slayers and the few remaining vamps that fought on the ground. "This is over."

With the last of the vampires cleaned up, the other slayers got a front row seat as Buffy landed and stalked up to the demon.

She stopped just out of arms reach and cocked her hip to the side letting her right hand rest casually on her hip. "We wouldn't have to do this if you'd have let go of the rope."

The demon's lower limbs swung, trying to reach her. The slayers flinched anticipating the worst. Instead they gapped as Buffy lifted up her hands, grabbed the massive fists and stopped them in midair.

_Girl's a total trip. Always was a bit ridiculous watching her go at it. But damn can she fight._ Faith watched on as Buffy held strong against the towering demon nearly twice her height. She flinched as Buffy's kick landed_. Demon or not, getting kicked in the balls just hurts._

Faith chuckled as she caught Xander's reflexive groan in her ear at the action. She shook her head as the demon barely reacted to the well placed kick.

Frowning at his less than stellar reaction, Buffy let go of his arms. She heard Faith yell a smart comment about her opponent's lack of anatomy and scowled. _Like I really need the advice from the peanut gallery right now? _

"Aren't we going to help her?" Tina, one of the other squad leaders, asked Faith.

"Nah." Faith set the tip of the Scythe on the ground and leaned on it casually. "B's old-school. Don't wanna cramp her style."

"B?" Tina scrunched a brow.

"B, you know?" Faith smirked at the confusion on the other woman's face, enjoying her reaction, "Buffy."

"You mean…?" There were a few moments of silence and then whispers began to break out among the team. "That's…Buffy Summers?"

"In the flesh," Faith confirmed. "Though she usually dresses a _lot_ better." Shrugging, she turned her attention back to the fight, whistling, "Watch and learn, kiddies. This is how a Chosen _One_ takes care of business."

The chosen one in question was shaking her foot a little. _That thing has skin like a rock,_ she whined. _Whoops, _she ducked as he got his act together and came at her, _gotta pay attention here._ As they traded blows, Buffy immediately started evaluating her opponent. _'Kay so big, fast, skin like concrete and strong. This is just gonna be_ _**fun**_! Her hits landed, but it didn't flinch. The skin felt more like an exoskeleton under fists, causing her forearms to take a serious beating.

_What are you waiting for, B?_ Faith wondered as she watched Buffy and Sparky go at it like prize fighters. So far, neither was winning, but Faith could tell Buffy was frustrated. She knew both combatants were working at a level above the average slayer. The blow that the demon dealt told her that he wasn't anything to mess with. She watched Buffy attack him like a normal demon, flinching when it finally got a blow in.

Buffy head snapped back absorbing the blow. Swinging one of it's arms, it knocked into her chest. She flew back through the air, stopping when she hit the cement wall. _Ow! Mother…someone get the license plate of the freight train… _She loosened herself from the crater she created and shook her head. _Wait, do trains have license plates?_ Her head throbbed. _I'm kinda wishing for unconsciousness right now. _She blinked as blood trickled down onto her eyelashes. Through the dust and blood, she watched dazedly as Sparky made his way toward her. Then all she saw was fire.

"I don't think so," Willow muttered as she sent a jet of flame from her fingertips. It landed between the demon and a flattened Buffy, distracting him and sending a few slayers dropping to the floor for cover. "Mine," she informed him as he turned to glare at her, "I've got these weird territorial issues. She belong to me, buster."

This time he didn't roar, just sent lightning crashing into her. As she watched it come at her, Willow smiled wickedly. The fire only sparked and smelled of ozone as it hit her shields. _Thank you_, _Teacher_. Willow reached out, swirling the excess magick into her hands and flung it back into the demon's face.

A horrific screech echoed from his mouth as the demon stumbled back and clawed at it's face. Willow actually thought she might have damaged it for a moment and then it lowered it's arms, charging straight at her. It moved a lot faster than expected and Willow barely had enough time to firm up her shields. The demon was almost upon her when it was stopped cold, gasping as the air was driven out of it by the fist in it's stomach.

"Now, I'm pissed," a dust covered Buffy informed the wheezing demon. She shook her hair, sending bits of concrete clattering to the floor, and let it stagger back.

_"She always did lead with her chin,"_ Giles' voice came over the link as Faith chuckled. Faith was mildly impressed. She hadn't even seen the other slayer recover and move across the room. It seemed Buffy was finally getting serious.

"_Keep it busy for a minute, Buffy," _Willow told her as she shook herself to recover from the near miss. _"The upgrades are nifty-keen, but I still need to learn to use them._ _I need some time to study something_," she continued.

"_Oh sure," Buffy_ drawled back, "Keep_ it busy. No problem at all."_

"_As long as you keep it from absorbing any more power than we should be able to contain it,"_ Willow said.

"_Yeah," _Buffy shrugged, "_I really don't wanna think what this thing would be like after a few more vampy snacks, much less after a few slayers. Leave it to me then, I'm good at distracting."_

"_That you are," _Willow leered and then got back to business. She had a plan…okay, a vague idea anyway. It was gonna be a little tricky on the magickal side.

"Alright, Sparky," Buffy addressed her opponent, "Let's get back at it."

She received a coughing roar as her reply. The demon recovered and came after her. "Grrrrr! Arghh!_" _She sneered, "Can't you guys come up with some new lines?"

With a modified horse kick, she leapt up and slammed her heel into her opponent's cheek. He staggered to the side and shook his head. Not falling like she had wanted, but it still stung. Buffy set herself up and then leapt back into the fray. It was fun to let herself lose control after so long. She had finally found someone she didn't have to hold back on. It felt great!

"_I don't suppose you're able to follow this?" _Xander asked Faith. The only bad thing about the visual spell was that while the watchers were able to follow exactly what the slayers on the ground saw in real time, they still weren't always able to keep up with it. They'd had some success with slowing down the replay for after action reports, but they still often needed to rely on the slayers interpretation on the events.

"I'm getting a little bit, Xand," Faith admitted, "but only bits and pieces. Whatever B and Sparky are doing, it's way above my pay grade."

"_Hate that, don't ya?" _Xander wondered.

"It grates a bit, yeah," Faith chuckled, "but I'm five by five. Damn, that had to hurt…"

Faith watched as Buffy and Sparky stepped back into reality with a rush and Buffy literally ran up the demons chest, snap kicking him in the chin. The momentum from the kick sprung her backwards, flipping off of him to only disappear again. The demon hissed as it stepped forward, disappearing as well. They'd been going back and forth like this for about ten minutes. Faith knew they had to be moving at an extremely high rate of speed. Something even her slayer enhanced senses weren't able to follow. Unable to keep up, she and the rest of the slayers shoved themselves back to the edges of the room, trying to keep out of the way.

Willow was still standing off to the right of the pits, her shields shimmering a pearlescent white as they fluctuated. She hadn't moved from her original position, her gaze fixed on the tear in the dimensions that was still visible in the middle of the room. Her other shields were still present over the pits that the baby slayers were in.

Faith watched on the fight rage on thankful that Willow's shields held firm. _Now if B'd hurry her old ass up and finish Sparky off, we can go home and party. _

"_Alright Buffy," _Willow broke into Buffy's concentration, "_I've think I've got it figured out." _

"_Give me a sec," _Buffy huffed. Slowing down a little she blocked Sparky's arms and seeing an opening, began a quick series of centerline punches to his chest. As he grunted and tripped back, he opened himself up further to an attack. She dropped into a horse stance, drew a deep breath and shot both fists out together with a loud, "Ki!" Even with her fists being only an inch away, by focusing her power, she sent him shooting back to slam against the concrete wall. Thankfully, it was reinforced and he only created another crater.

"Your turn, ugly," the slayer jibed as she stood back up. She turned her attention to Willow. "_What do you need, sweetie?"_

"_I need you to draw him back to the tear," _Willow informed her. "_We can't slay him. His destruction would release all the power he's got stored up."_

"_Boom?" _Buffy questioned and frowned.

"_Small nuclear sized boom," _Willow confirmed. "_So if killing is out, then we've gotta put him back where he belongs. If you can shove him back through the hole then I think I can close it up behind him. But we've got to hurry, 'cause it's naturally repairing itself all by it's little lonesome." _

"'_Kay,"_ Buffy swallowed as the demon pulled itself out of the concrete and came back after her. The thing just didn't stop. It wasn't necessarily stronger than her, just bigger and really tough. She was gonna have to change tactics to get it to follow her. Breathing deeply once more, she set herself and watched with impassive eyes as the demon came straight at her.

"That's different," Lucky spoke by Faith's side as they watched the fight together.

"Yeah, I thought she had him after that last punch," Faith replied, "but he came back. B must be switching tactics."

"Hmmm," Lucky mumbled as they watched the demon charge at Buffy.

Faith was expecting them to flash out of view once more, but this time Buffy didn't move forward to engage the demon. Instead, she let him come at her and then just seemed to flow out of his way. The demon's arms blurred as he punched and grabbed at Buffy. It was as if she was one step ahead of him, slithering out of grasp. Faith knew enough martial arts to realize what Buffy was doing, recognizing it as a soft style of tai chi chuan. It wasn't a style that she had ever seen Buffy use before.

"She's bait," Lucky whispered, her eyes narrowing, causing Faith to send her a swift glance and then widen her own eyes in comprehension.

Buffy slapped another of Sparky's hands out of the way and drew in another deep breath. Years of training with Master Shin aside, "pushing hands" with a six armed, eight-foot demon that was out to kill her was a little hard. Tai chi had always been one of the hardest forms for her to master while studying.

"_There he is,"_ Willow crowed into her mind, "_do it now!"_

Buffy was actually sweating now, this being one of the first times in five years she was able to cut loose. She resisted the urge to wipe her brow and jumped up, slamming both feet into Sparky, sending him flying backwards. Landing flat on her back, she flipped up into stance automatically.

"That's a little ridiculous," she snorted. The demon and gone into the hole alright, but it had shrunk a little and he'd gotten stuck. She walked over to him, "Stupid thing," she picked up her foot and kicked at him some more, "go in!"

"Kick his ass, B!" She heard Faith roar with laughter as the demon refused to budge.

"Shut up," the slayer snapped as she kicked him again and again, finally pushing him all the way through. "Now I need a pedicure," she groaned.

"'Scuse me," Willow not so gently pushed her aside as she rushed forward to clamp a hand on both sides of the tear, pulling it together. Sewing an inter-dimensional hole back together was not an easy thing to do. It was like weaving her shield, only twenty-times harder 'cause the silly little magick threads _really_ didn't want to stick together.

"Feelin' the love here, Will," Buffy grumped and folded her arms.

"Uh-huh," Willow replied absentmindedly.

"So it's true," Faith sauntered up to them as Willow finished up her ministration, "Red finally got you to go automatic?"

"Don't start, Faith," Buffy snarled. She was feeling a little touchy right now. She'd fought the good fight, brought down the bad guy, and now Willow was totally ignoring her. No smoochies at all.

"Ah, come on, B," Faith leered, "Tell mama Faith all about it…"

"Grrrrr," Buffy growled.

………….

Author's Note:

I've got all things really cool things to say about the story and how it evolved all that crap but I'm so tired from running around today that I'm just gonna drop. So I guess I'll just save them for the next chapter. Hope you liked this one and I appreciate all the reviewers and trackers. Oh, and my beta is a very patient and wonderful person for having to put up with someone like me!

Horse kick: also known as a butterfly kick or xuanzi circle, composed of a twist of the body while both legs are lifted from the ground and swung around, while the torso remains as horizontal as possible. It is an advanced maneuver that requires the use of the whole body and the strike can occur with either leg. The maneuver is used, with different modifications, in multiple types of martial arts.

Center line punch: The most commonly seen interpretation emphasizes attack and defense along an imaginary vertical line drawn from the center of the practitioner's chest to the center of the enemy's chest. The human body's prime striking targets are considered to be on or near this line, including eyes, nose, throat, solar plexus and groin

"One-inch punch": Wing Chun practitioners believe that because the elbow is behind the fist during the strike, it is thereby supported by the strength of the entire body rather than just a swinging fist, and therefore has more impact. A common analogy is a baseball bat being swung at someone's head (a round-house punch), as opposed to the butt end of the bat being thrust forward into the opponent's face (wing chun punch), which would cause far more damage than a glancing hit and isn't as easy to evade. Many skilled practitioners pride themselves on being able to generate "short power" or large amount of power in a short space. A common demonstration of this is the "one-inch punch," a punch that starts only an inch away from the target yet delivers an explosive amount of force.

Pushing hands: or **sticky hands**, is a name for two-person training routines practiced in internal Chinese martial arts such as Baguazhang, Xingyiquan, Tai Chi Chuan (Taijiquan), Liuhebafa, Quan Fa, and Yiquan.

"_**Death is not the greatest loss in life. **_

_**The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live."**_

_**-Norman Cousins 1912-1990**_


	35. Chapter 35

"I met a traveller from an antique land

Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone

Stand in the desert... Near them, on the sand,

Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,

And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,

Tell that its sculptor well those passions read

Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,

The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;

And on the pedestal these words appear:

'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:

Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away."

Percy Bysshe Shelley, _Ozymandias_

_I love this quote. When I was younger my mother used to tell me, "The only thing constant in this world is change, sweetie". She was trying to tell me that I would grow up soon and be able to do all the things that I wanted, but I took it to heart. It's now one of the guiding forces in my life. _

Disclaimer: For the the last time...I know nothing about the pig in the _bathroom_!!!

..........

Chapter 36

"I'm not pouting," claimed the obviously sulking slayer.

"Sure you're not, B," Faith chuckled.

"It's pick-on-Buffy-day, isn't it?" Buffy groused as they walked back into the campus ahead of the rest of the slayers. The others in the in team had been eyeing Buffy and muttering. They obviously didn't know what to make of the older slayer coming back to life. Much less coming back so much more powerful than all of them. There was bound to be some resentment and questions once they started wondering where she had been for the past five years.

"I got to say, Red," Faith interrupted her musing; "I really like this whole method of transportation a lot better than being crammed in a C-130. Those things kinda suck for long distance. Why didn't we do this stuff before?"

"I couldn't do it before, Faith," Willow admitted. "I've gotten a bit of a power boost lately."

"Oh?" Faith cocked her head and then nodded, "Cool."

Willow smiled, that was the wonderful thing about Faith. She just accepted things and moved on, no questions asked. Unfortunately, the rest of the Council might not be so accepting. After a bit of rest, sewing up a dimensional tear could take it out of a girl, Willow had literally transported over thirty people from the middle of the Mexican wilderness to the Cleveland suburbs with absolutely no preparation or materials. Buffy wasn't the only one that was going to be receiving looks after people started figuring that out.

"I don't think I could have done it if they weren't mostly slayers," Willow cocked her head and mused, "It's not necessarily the distance traveled that makes teleportation so hard, but the weight carried. Somehow the slayers are lighter than regular humans, even magick users. Maybe it's cause I'm using slayer power...?"

"I'll leave the theorizing to you and the Watchers," Faith quickly waved her off and continued into the foyer of the building. "I'm just a point and shoot girl."

"All hail the conquering heroes," Dawn greeted them dryly from the staircase. The younger Summers was elegant and refined as she waited with one hand on the banister. Then she abandoned her pose and rushed down to Buffy and Willow, engulfing them in a hug that reminded Buffy how young she still was.

"Don't ever scare me like that again," Dawn sniffed and whispered in their ears, "I've got enough problems with the mini-slayers. I don't need you two adding to them."

"Love you too, brat." Buffy hugged Dawn back fiercely.

"Let's get everyone inside and checked over." Giles walked down the stairs that ran into the foyer behind Dawn. "Dr. Pratchett wants to give everyone a look over, just in case."

"You heard the man," Faith yelled at the gathered slayers, who had immediately groaned. "Drop your gear and go get poked by the doc."

"I'll go keep an eye on them," Lucky offered as they reluctantly began to shuffle out. "This looks like it's gonna take a while."

"You sure?" Faith asked.

"Yeah," Lucky nodded, "This is a Sunnydale thing. Besides, I'll make you tell me about it later."

"My office?" Willow asked Giles as Lucky walked off to take care of the girls.

"Xander is already there." He eyed both the witch and the slayer. "I believe you two need to explain a few things."

"I feel like I'm back in high school," Buffy muttered as they made their way up the stairs. Giles was in front of them with Dawn and Faith trailing behind. "Like I'm being sent to the principal."

"I never got sent to the principal," Willow gloated a little.

"You're on thin ice right now, missy," Buffy sulked and crossed her arms. "Don't push it by mentioning your non-detentiony status."

"Don't worry, my little career criminal," Willow drew Buffy in by a hand on her waist and kissed the side of her head as they got off the stairs and went down the hall, "I still love you. Even if you _are_ a repeat offender."

They all walked into Willow's big office and began to arrange themselves, Dawn falling down next to Xander on the couch and Faith sliding into a high back chair, crossing her booted feet on the low table. Giles watched from his matching chair. They were all facing Buffy and Willow who chose to remain standing, hands linked together.

"Now I feel like I'm on American Idol, waiting to see who's gonna be eliminated," Willow whispered after a few moments of staring.

"Oooh! I wanna be Kara DioGuardi, the new judge!" Dawn raised her hand in the air excitedly.

"And leave me as Paula Abdul?" Faith snorted, "I don't think so!"

"Why don't we get back to business, hmmm?" Giles interrupted.

"I think we all know who's gonna be Simon...," Dawn stage whispered, causing Faith to smirk and even Xander to crack a grin. Buffy and Willow tried and failed to hide their giggles when Giles just sighed and cleaned his glasses.

"Oh, come on guys," Willow sighed and dragged Buffy over to the love seat, "It's still us. We're just a little more than we were before, that's all."

"But how much more?" Giles asked, slipping his glasses on again. "You'll forgive me, Willow, but our last experience with you gaining considerably more power was not a pleasant one."

"Giles!" Buffy growled.

"No," Willow laid a hand on her arm, "he's right. I haven't exactly handled power well in the past. But I'm not the person I once was, Giles. I'd like to think I've grown up a little."

"That is true," Giles acknowledged, "You have grown up considerably in the past six years. And frankly that's one of the few things that's keeping me from panicking completely."

Xander snorted, causing everyone to look over at him. "Sorry," he coughed, "I was just trying to imagine what a panicking Giles would look like. Totally inappropriate," he shrunk back from the glare Giles sent him, "I realize now the error of my ways. Bad mind, bad!"

"Why don't we explain as much as we can," Buffy said after hiding her grin from the offended Brit. "Then if you have any questions, you can just ask. We'll try to answer what we can, just realize that this stuff is still relatively new even to us."

"Fair enough," Giles nodded, "please begin."

"You wanna do it," Buffy asked Willow, "You're much better at the 'splainy thing than I am."

"Okay," Willow agreed and turned to her friends, "Apparently this all started a long time ago, back when the Slayer was first being made. See, the Shadow Men didn't tell us everything...,"

Buffy sat back as Willow explained what had happened to them. It was interesting to study her friends as they absorbed the information. She could smell the faint haze of magick and old blood surrounding Giles, overlaid with the musty scent of old books. His posture was alert and focused, centered entirely on Willow's explanation, obviously interested. Dawn was focused as well, but her mind also seemed to working on something else at the same time. Her eyes flickering a bit as her intelligent mind raced along.

Buffy had always thought it a little unfair that Dawn had seemed to get all the brains, even though they were technically made of the same stuff. Not to mention the height. Maybe it was the essence of the Key that still permeated her being. Back when she was just a normal slayer, Buffy had never been able to notice a difference between Dawn and any other human. Now that she was the Original she could sense a low, powerful vibration that seemed to emanate from her sister. It was a little on the wacky side and she wondered what Willow saw when she looked at her. She'd have to remember to ask her some day.

"So now you're some kind of omega-level mutants, like Jean-Grey or something?" Xander asked, bringing Buffy back to the present. Apparently explanation time was over.

"Kinda," Willow cocked her head at the reference, "Actually, that's a pretty good reference. Only I'm the one that can manipulate matter, not Buffy."

"Yeah, I didn't get any of the neat magickal tricks," Buffy grinned. Xander actually seemed to be willing to converse with her today, wonder of wonders.

"But all the power flows through her," Willow told them, "Imagine she's like a spindle, taking all the raw power and spinning it down to a thread that I can work with. It's kinda neat how they managed that actually."

"Fascinating," Giles murmured. "Though I'm not quite up on the reference of the omega-class...whatever, I believe I understand. You can manipulate matter at its basic atomic level exponentially, yes?"

"Basically," Willow nodded, "Any witch or sorcerer can do it, but it's very hard and usually requires a lot of preparation and power. Most people simply don't have the power available to do it on a large scale and even if they did, their bodies couldn't handle it. They'd burn up. The PTB's managed to change me enough that I could handle it and now, with Buffy's help, I have access to the power."

"So," Xander asked, "you guys are joined at the hip now or something?"

"No choice really," Buffy nodded, "For it to work we almost had to be tied together. Not that that's a bad thing."

"Yeah," Willow agreed coyly, "I think I can live with it."

"So what was all that about coming back undercover?" Xander asked, narrowing his eyes and shifting uncomfortably at their display of affection. "Cause as far as I can see, you didn't do much. If you just wanted to come in and save us at the last minute, you could have stayed away."

"Xander...," Dawn started.

"No, it's okay," Buffy told her., "He makes a good point. I had two reasons for that. I knew something was coming and I knew I would need Willow's help to stop it."

"You knew that those guy's would be coming after the baby slayers?" Xander growled.

"How?" Faith interjected, "None of our girls even got a hint of a slayer dream!"

"Who do you think gives you those dreams now, Faith?" Buffy cocked her head and an odd look came into her eyes.

"What the hell, Buffy?!" Xander jumped up, "We lost girls during those raids! If you knew it was coming, why didn't you just warn us and let us stop them from getting the girls in the first place?!"

"Slayers die!" Buffy snarled out, shaking her head and sending her hair flying. They just didn't understand. "It's an inevitable thing," she tried to explain. "I can't stop it from happening. It's their purpose to stand in between the demons and the rest of the world. I only get glimpses of the future. There isn't just one path, there's millions. For every decision that's made, a dozen new futures pop up."

"Believe it or not, Xander," Willow took Buffy's hand in hers and tried to clarify, "What happened, even though there were deaths, was the best possible path. If Buffy had alerted you to what the Magnolia Corporation was doing, what would you have done?"

"Sent a team after them," Dawn said immediately. "Shut them down hard."

"And they would have been waiting for you," Buffy told her, "I _saw it_! Every path I sent you down, hundreds, possibly thousands died! Until I came across this. This one, tiny, possible future."

"It's like the PTB's said," Willow said, "There are forces on the other side that are constantly working against us. Just like us, they try to manipulate the future to their own purposes. The question is, who's better at it?"

"So it's like some weird, long-running chess game?" Dawn asked with wide eyes.

"More like _weiqi,_" Buffy answered, squeezing her head, "There are infinite moves and possibilities. It makes my brain hurt sometimes. I'm just glad Willow's here now, 'cause she's much better at the logical stuff than I am."

"Poor baby," Willow petted Buffy's head.

"Stop with the visuals!" Xander demanded, throwing up his arms. "I've got enough problems wrapping my head around the fact that you two are..." he made some weird hand gestures. "I don't need images of it running through my brain."

"You always asked for details when I was dating women before," Willow narrowed her eyes at her best friend.

"Yes, but those girls weren't girls named Buffy!" Xander spat, "You weren't sleeping with someone who ran out us!"

"Look!" Buffy finally snapped. Her patience worn thing. She'd suppressed her annoyance just because Xander was who Xander was. To her, he smelled so comfortably normal. The only one in the room that was just himself, with no outside influences. She loved him, but the insults were getting a little tiring. "I'm sorry you're not comfortable with me and Willow being the way we are, and I'm sorry that you feel I abandoned you, buts that's the way things _are_. We love you Xander, we always will, and I'm willing to sit down and talk anytime you want to. Until then, just deal with it!"

Dawn looked over at Buffy. It relieved her a little that Buffy had snapped at Xander, it was what the old Buffy would have done. Since she'd been back, Buffy had been acting so mature and enlightened, it had been really wiggy. Dawn loved that her sister had grown up and all but she'd been wondering if all that Original stuff the Shadowmen had shoved into her had driven her wacky.

"I believe we are getting off topic," Giles rallied them back like he always did. Sometimes he felt like he was herding cats. "All of this is fascinating, but it does little to help us with our problem. We need to identify the real masterminds behind the Magnolia Corporation and shut them down for good. I trust you have no objection to our going after them now?"

"No," Buffy shook her head, "The future is a blur. Both sides are in a state of shock from the events and are planning. It's up to you guys now."

"Why don't we just send B and Red in to stomp the hell out of them?" Faith gestured at Buffy. "Not that I want to give you all the action, get me, but you're like Superman now or something. Why not use it?"

"We're limited in how much we can do now," Willow shook her head. "In actual fact, we're not even supposed to exist on this plane of existence any more. The regular slayers are supposed to deal with any problems that crop up here. The only time the Original is allowed to take corporeal form is to deal with major demons who break through the dimensional barrier."

"So why...?" Dawn reached over and poked Buffy in the arm, who frowned at her. "Cause you seem pretty solid like to me."

"Technically, this is considered a training period," Willow told her, "The PTB's have some sort of treaty in place that allows us to get used to our new powers. It'll last about the length of our regular mortal lives and then we won't be allowed back."

"Well that sucks," Faith scowled.

"Why?" Xander asked, "Immortality and infinite powers...sounds good to me."

"Bullshit," Faith snorted, "Think about it. Their gonna be fighting for forever! It'll be like being back in Sunnydale, no backup, all on your own. No friends and no rest. You gotta understand, X-man, being a Slayer alone...you start looking forward to the end. That whole 'death is your gift' shit wasn't a joke."

They were all silent for a moment after Faith's rant, remembering the time in Sunnydale, especially the period surrounding Glory. How Buffy had seemed almost happy to fling herself off of the platform. How when she had come back she had seemed to hate living and all she'd wanted to do was go back to Heaven. Now, neither she nor Willow would get that chance for a long, long time.

….........

"I must say, brother," Zeak said as he rested his chin on his fist, "this was quite an unusual outcome. You were right, that Buffy girl was an unexpected hazard. I'll give you credit for that." There were a series of muffled shrieks and other noises from the only other person in the room.

"Oh, don't be so silly," Zeak said, "Of course you deserve this. You might have been correct about the slayer, but if you had simply done your job right and gathered up enough girls we would have had three rituals and not just one. As powerful as they are, I doubt the slayer and the witch could have been in more than one place at the same time!"

He walked over to Titus as he hung upside down, dangling from the ceiling by a rope that had been soaked in holy water. It wouldn't kill him, but it would burn slowly through his skin. An itching, festering pain. Zeak reached out and put his finger of Titus's chest, frowning as it burned a small hole into his brother's flesh.

"I'm of two minds on how to deal with you," Zeak told him. "Of course, I'm always of two minds on how to deal with you...you know that. The demon wants to kill you, Titus. It wants to rip your heart out and crush it like a grape. But then, it always wants to kill you...and everything else for that matter."

Zeak frowned again and used magick to spark a small bit of flame in his hand, then snuffed it out again with a jerky movement. Titus struggled some more within his bonds, causing him to sway back and forth a bit.

"That's why I'm in charge, you know," Zeak's voice was almost contemplative as he compulsively began creating fire and snuffing it out, the flames taking different shapes as he paced back and forth. "When I made that deal so many years ago to become a vampire, it allowed me to keep my soul and thus my real personality. The other villagers were stupid to be so afraid. If you approach it right, being undead isn't that bad. Vampiric demons are stupid little things really. They're very cunning, but they lack the self-control and intelligence to actually do much harm. They usually go crazy with bloodlust the first few years after creation, get noticed, and get themselves killed off."

"But you know that, don't you, brother?" Zeak ignored the muffled screams coming from Titus as drew his fingernail down Titus's leg, causing it to bubble and bleed. "You weren't strong enough, you're soul got taken away and all that's left is the demon. I had to be strong enough for the both of us. So that I could take care of you like I promised mother."

Titus moaned and finally drooped in his bonds, his body a mass of oozing wounds and burns. Zeak ignored this as he continued, caught up in his own world.

"The magick made me stronger," Zeak muttered, remembering the first time he'd figured out that he could actually work magick. Crouched in the fetid alley with the tattered and molding book, a knife, and the prostitute. She'd been screaming just the way Titus was, the sound muffled behind the gag. "But it wasn't enough! I couldn't handle the type of power I wanted, the type I needed!" Then he'd found out about vampires. It had been a wonderful find, and a plan had begun forming in his mind.

"It was so simple really," Zeak told Titus, "The demon would provide the power and keep my body from destroying itself and I would provide the intelligence and the magickal gift." He'd tried to do the same for his brother, but Titus just hadn't been strong enough. "And now I'm left with you," Zeak looked over at the figure hanging like a slab of meat.

It wasn't really his brother, he knew that. But it was the only thing he had left and he had promised his mother.

"I'm glad the witch appreciated my spell," Zeak abruptly changed the subject. He didn't want to think about his brother like that. "I did go to a lot of trouble to get it set up. I must say that their approach to defeating it was rather novel. I would never have anticipated them actually bringing the chaos demon over to this side of the barrier and then defeating it. It seems both the slayer and the witch have gained considerable power. Power doesn't mean everything, though."

"It should be fairly easy to step into plan C," he muttered, rubbing a hand along the bristles of his chin. "We'll just drop the Magnolia front, they found it anyway, and move on..."

"PAY ATTENTION!" Zeak roared suddenly, leaning down and slapping his brother violently across the face. Titus grunted in pain. "This is why you're so weak! You never pay attention. You never _learn_. I'm sitting here telling you how to defeat the slayers and you're ignoring me!"

Zeak whimpered a bit, "Oh brother," Zeak sighed, "I suppose I shouldn't expect more from you. You're just being yourself, after all." He snapped his fingers and Titus found himself swaying on his own two feet, the rope gone. The injuries on his body remained, however.

"You need to keep those," Zeak told him as Titus looked up at him, "Maybe they'll remind you not to be so stupid next time. But you're still my brother, Titus, and I'll protect you. Now come along and I'll tell you what we're going to have to do to defeat the slayers now."

"Y....Y...Y..You g..g..got a p.p.p..plan?" Titus asked as he limped along with his brother out of the door.

"Of course, I have a plan! It's all about thinking ahead, brother. They may think they have won, but this was merely a little skirmish. The Final Battle is a ways off and we have all the time in the world to plot and plan, to make them fall." Zeak smiled and Titus shuddered a little. His brother's eyes were glowing red again. "But let's go get you something to eat first. You've got to be hungry after all that....and we have all the time in the world..."

............................................

"It's not gonna be all that bad," Buffy interrupted everyone's horrible thoughts with her abrupt comment. " Yeah, we'll have to fight and stuff, but we won't be alone. That's what really matters. I'm not alone anymore." She smirked over at Willow, "But if I don't get my reward kisses, I'm not sure how long this relationship will last."

"You're such a baby," Willow kissed her lightly on the lips while Xander groaned and Faith and Dawn smirked. Giles just set about polishing his glasses.

"That's it?" Buffy demanded indignantly, "One measly little peck? Our souls have been joined together for eternity and all I get is one little peck? Can't we move this along...?"

"Oh no," Willow smiled and shook her head, getting up to leave, "If I remember correctly you said you were courting me. That involves dating and romance and...and gifts, lots of gifts."

"Romance? Gifts?!" Buffy trailed after her toward the door. The rest of the Scoobies followed, interested in hearing the rest of the conversation.

"Yeah," Willow mused, "I want gifts. Like roses...or...or those little tiny, candied hearts that they give out on Valentines day that say things like "I Love U" with a U instead of Y-O-U, you know? I want some of those..."

Their voices trailed off as they walked out the door and Giles just groaned, "How the world has survived this long, I'll never know!"

Author's Note:

_**weiqi**(Chinese): _also known as **Go** is a strategic board game for two players. It is also known as **igo** (Japanese) or **baduk** (Korean). Go is noted for being rich in strategic complexity despite its simple rules.

The game is played by two players who alternately place black and white _stones_ (playing pieces, now usually made of glass or plastic) on the vacant intersections of a grid of 19×19 lines. The object of the game is to control a larger portion of the board than the opponent. A stone or a group of stones is captured and removed if it has no empty adjacent intersections, the result of being completely surrounded by stones of the opposing color.

Placing stones close together helps them support each other and avoid capture. On the other hand, placing stones far apart creates influence across more of the board. Part of the strategic difficulty of the game stems from finding a balance between such conflicting interests. Players strive to serve both defensive and offensive purposes and choose between tactical urgency and strategic plans.

_So we've come a long way in the last 35 chapters (wow, that's a lot) and we've had some good times and some even better ones. I hope you've enjoyed the tale so far (yes, there will be more, i've got plans for at least two;). I will be going back and cleaning up and making a few changes to the story (mostly fixing mistakes that people along the way have noticed) but the overall storyline shouldn't change. _

_I'd like to thank all the people that have been both following and reviewing the story. It's you guys that keep me going when I don't want to sit down and write anymore (my fingers are tired!:( _

_I would also like to send a special shout out to Whedonist for being my Beta and thus enduring all my whining, missing of deadlines, and general allaround crankiness. You da' bomb!_

**OMAKE:**

Willow - looks around forest- What are we doing here, Buffy?

Buffy - I wanted to introduce you to someone who taught me a lot while I was training.

Willow - I thought Master Shin lived in China. We're in Oregon.

Buffy - points to a chattering squirrel - No, not Master Shin. I want you to meet Mr. Tails.

Willow - stares wide-eyed - _What the...?_

_Ta-da! I leave you with another favorite quote of mine._

"In Xanadu did Kubla Khan

A stately pleasure-dome decree:

Where Alph, the sacred river, ran

Through caverns measureless to man

Down to a sunless sea.

So twice five miles of fertile ground

With walls and towers were girdled round:

And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,

Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree;

And here were forests ancient as the hills,

Enfolding sunny spots of greenery."

Samuel Taylor Coleridge, _Kubla Khan_


End file.
